Faith > Fear

Dan Dick, well respected colleague, formerly of our United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, in Disciplines 2022 (published by The Upper Room), page 372, wrote the following paragraphs while commenting on Isaiah 12:1-2. As usual here, the highlights are mine —-

My third-grade Sunday School teacher was a dedicated but scary woman named Miss Hack. She tried to instill respect and awe in her pupils, but too often it resulted in fear and dread.

I escaped from a punitive theology that portrayed God as an angry thunderer who was eager to cast disobedient children into the fiery oven of eternal torment and damnation. Through the glorious transformation of the Holy Spirit, I came to know the God whose very name and nature is love.

I was lifted into the reality of God’s cleansing grace. Faith displaced my fear. Hope eradicated my dread. Love filled my heart and changed my entire life. I came fully into the love, comforting, caring, and healing arms of God.

I am a child of forgiveness, not condemnation; I am a member of the incarnate body of Christ.

I am not defined by my failings, but by the God whose name is love.

— How about you?