Finally, let’s talk about the fear of God.

There’s a lot of misunderstanding around that phrase. Please be careful how you use it. Yes, the Bible does say that we should fear God. But it doesn’t mean that we should be terrified of God like we’re terrified of someone who has abused us. That kind of fear is based in harm and damage and danger. (And it’s reciprocal; the people who abused us when we were children are now afraid of us because of what we know.) It’s not healthy.

We should all fear God in the sense of honoring and worshiping God. We should acknowledge God’s power, the reality that the Divine knows more than we do, and the fact that we are called to cooperate with the Lord. But please preach and teach that God is not out to get us, not looking for reasons to hurt and punish us. We are God’s treasured creation; God is delighted when good things happen to us, and is constantly working to bless us in the way that is best, because God loves us.

In previous posts we’ve discussed the fact that love will drive out fear, so let’s focus on that, instead of fear. Of course, the strongest way to teach about God’s love is to live it, day by day. When survivors sense that you are safe, trustworthy, and truthful, they will learn about love by seeing it in you.