Faith vs Fear

Faith vs Fear 

So lately I have been seeing a lot of examples of faith vs fear in my life and lives of my friends and family. We know that these two words are complete opposites. Faith casts out fear, and fear overcomes the faithless.

Everybody faces this battle every day. Whether it is to step out of their comfort zone to do something good, or to just make better choices. Sometimes it comes to us on a personal level, and sometimes it is even bigger. So I just want to kind of talk about a few examples that really hit home on a personal level for me.

First off is the faith vs fear battle of dating.

To be perfectly honest I have a whole spiel that I could go on about with dating, but I will try to keep it brief as I don't want to bore the readers. The faith that it takes for a guy to ask a girl out is often times a titanic amount, depending on the self confidence levels of the guy. That being said I find it funny how many of these guys as they ask girls out are being "friend zoned" and then girls turn right around and say that they never go on dates. Now this is not to say that girls should go on a date with whatever guy comes up to them and asks them out, but rather that they shouldn't be so quick to turn somebody down because they don't think they will enjoy the date. 

So guys have faith that eventually a girl will say yes.

Girls have faith that you can enjoy time with more than just the best looking guys.

If not we will enter a fear cycle where nobody goes on dates anymore and that will just suck... for all of us.

Fear is oftentimes a preventative. It slows or stops us from doing good things, or even hard things that will help us to grow and progress in life. If we can overcome that fear and look for the good things that come from the trials we pass through, life will become more fulfilling and enjoyable. 

Second is faith vs fear of missionary work.

I was sitting in church today and listened to a talk that was full of faith about going out and sharing with those around us the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we enjoy so much. I felt inspired to overcome my fears of that and to go out and invite others to come unto Christ so that they might enjoy the happiness that I find in living his Gospel. It is obviously a hard thing to do, as we don't do it all the time. It is a chore for us. Nobody likes chores. I do want to share an experience though. 

Friday I went to the Food Day at the institute, and sitting down and getting acquainted with those around me I got to talk to somebody who knew a young man that had gone a little off the path, and was inactive and losing his testimony. For whatever reason I felt my spirit stir, whether for the reason that I have felt that way myself in my own life, and had a hard journey back, or quite simply because he is my brother in the Lord and I needed to help him come back I don't know. I set a plan in motion to actually go visit him today and see what we can do. As I drove home and was reflecting upon what I was setting in motion to go do I felt an overwhelming feeling of love. The love that Christ has for me, and for his wayward brother. It was an amazing feeling, and a feeling that I hope that I can feel repeatedly throughout this semester in a quest to bring others to him or back to him.

Chores and work stop being hard when we learn to love them. When we feel the joy and happiness that comes from doing it because our heart is in it, all things lose the pain of hard work and begin to be delicious to us.

So my friends. Be faithful. Seek to push forward and grow. There will be many trials and obstacles along the way, but they make the journey worth it. Keep your eyes on the beauty around you and learn to enjoy all the little things in life. Fear not. Fear is the greatest crippling emotion that we as humans can have. Learn to overcome it.

Proverbs 28:1

The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

 

Reflection

Boy has it been a while since I have last written here. So many things have happened since I last wrote. I don't even know where to begin. I guess it is time to rededicate this blog. I am going to start writing about things that take place in my personal spiritual journey. Things that happen in my physical journey. Finally I will also write about my emotional journey.

In the medieval time period there were warriors called crusaders. They called themselves such as they claimed to be warriors for Christ, often seeking for salvation at the claims of the church that fighting in a crusade would provide them with such. Almost like the modern day jihad claims that those who die fighting for Allah will attain paradise and 72 virgins.

I'm not really shooting for killing people here, but I do want to be a spiritual warrior of sorts. I'm not the most spiritual guy, or the most knowledgeable, but I know where I stand, and that is with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I believe that by following his example I will someday be able to attain the perfection that he commands us to attain in both Matthew in the New Testament and 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. 

I recently started going to college. It has definitely helped me improve my social skills, that quite honestly were lacking. Aside from that however I have been able to see the true morals that people have. I have found people struggling and fighting through life just like I am, and I see how kind they are to others. I have found people struggling and fighting the world and they act as though they do it alone. I know some of the coolest people in the world I am sure of it.

First off, I want to start with paying tribute to my mom. She is the most remarkable woman I know. Despite all of the hard things I have seen her go through in the past years, (there have been TONS) she still manages to love everybody around her. Right now my dad is the bishop(like a pastor) of a Young Single Adult ward(congregation) in our city. Every time my mom has participated down there (this is her second time around) she has managed to find someone to wrap her arms around and love. She likes adopting new kids that are too old to be adopted. Her love extends beyond bounds that I can even comprehend. Imagine getting to live with, learn from, and be around someone like that your entire childhood. I am truly blessed.

Next up is my dad. To be perfectly honest I have not always seen eye to eye with my dad. Growing up we constantly butted heads. I have had the great fortune of growing up, if only a little. My dad is awesome. Being a bishop is extremely taxing. On top of that he works hard to support his family, and somehow even manages to spend time with us throughout the week. Including a weekly date with my mom. He is dedicated, loving, and patient with everybody around him. There are times that he struggles, but who doesn't. We are all human. I am grateful to have the relationship I do with my dad. He even plays basketball with me. (even though he is over 50 years old)

I am going to try to keep the rest of this to a minimum. However I want to mention the rest of my family and friends as people who have helped me to grow to become who I am today. They have been very patient in putting up with me, and even taking the time to help me out and teach me.

So I guess my real message today is this. Family matters. Maybe you don't have the "ideal" family, but family are the people that love you no matter what. The ones who don't care how many times you have screwed up, but are willing to be there for you always. If you find yourself estranged from those surrounding you, and feel totally and completely alone, remember Christ. He is always there, no matter how many hard things we have gone through, or are going through. In the prolific words of President Gordon B. Hinkley,

If life gets too hard to stand, kneel.