Here, I am going to focus on the first two. Being a Christian, I have been raised to believe that even when we are wronged repeatedly, we are to forgive those wrongs as often as they are done to us. I have no problem with forgiving a person. However, I will not always trust someone who has a habit of doing wrong to me. I would be foolish to do so.
To go beyond this, I have to say that I have one person who comes to mind whom I would not trust with a single thing. There is nothing that he has done for which I have not forgiven him, but the only way I would trust this man is if he was dead. Even then, I am still not sure I would trust him. He is a compulsive liar, so how would I know that he was really even dead? Call me paranoid, but I figure it is more along the lines of logical. The word of a liar cannot be trusted.
Honesty is a BIG deal to me, and it always has been. Ever since I was very young, I knew the value of the truth. For one thing, it makes for a lot less to remember. When we hold to honesty as our foundation, it encourages us to stay away from things that we would feel the need to lie about. In other words, if you don’t want people to know bad things about you, and you don’t want to have to lie, then don’t do bad things! It really is simple in concept, however difficult it may be to actually live.
Love is at the core of who I am. However, sometimes the evil of the world gets to me, and fear begins to take over. There is a verse in the Bible that says “There is no fear in love, but perfect loves casts out all fear.” - 1 John 4:18 So, the question then is this: when the evil of the world gets to me, so much so that I fear for my own safety (whether legitimately or otherwise) what am I to do?
That is where the battle begins. I have a choice. Love or fear. I try to stick to the love that I have as my foundation inside, but sometimes my own resolve is just not strong enough. The fear that surrounds me breaks through the barrier of love when I am not able to hold it all together. The only thing that I can do to keep it out is to pray. Pray that God would come and surround me with HIS love. My love is imperfect, no matter how much of a foundation it is for me. God’s love is the perfect love that is talked about in that verse. It is His love that casts out all fear.
Thanks for "listening."
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