Friday, February 27, 2009

Faith - the opposite of fear

faith

    [feyth]
–noun
1.confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2.belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3.belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
4.belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.:to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.
5.a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.
6.the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.
7.the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.
8.Christian Theologythe trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.
9.in faith, in truth; indeed: In faith, he is a fine lad.
Origin: 
1200–50; ME feith < class="ital-inline" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(77, 78, 81); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; ">fed, OF feid, feit < class="ital-inline" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 100%; color: rgb(77, 78, 81); line-height: 1.25em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; font-style: italic; ">fidem, acc. of fidēstrust, akin to fīdere to trust. 


fear

    [feer]
–noun
1.a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
2.a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights.
3.concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.
4.reverential awe, esp. toward God.
5.that which causes a feeling of being afraid; that of which a person is afraid: Cancer is a common fear.
–verb (used with object)
6.to regard with fear; be afraid of.
7.to have reverential awe of.
8.Archaicto experience fear in (oneself).
–verb (used without object)
9.to have fear; be afraid.
Origin: 
bef. 900; ME fere, OE fær sudden attack or danger; c. OS fārambush, D gevaar, G Gefahr danger, ON fār disaster


(source: dictionary.com)

1 comment:

  1. Hi Eric,

    Just a small note........enjoy, Danny

    Whether you are a person of strong faith or intensely superstitious, your beliefs have a great impact on what happens to you. Positive and negative thinking have been talked about again and again. The truth is, if you believe that you can achieve something, without a doubt, you will probably achieve it. On the other hand, if you doubt your abilities, you will probably prove yourself right when you fail. Faith and fear go way beyond the positive or negative thought patterns. As a matter of fact, every aspect of your life is based on faith or fear.

    Does fear control your life?

    What are you afraid of? I am not talking about being afraid of the dark, or being afraid of heights. Phobias aside, are there things that you absolutely dread the thought of? Is it failure? Commitment? Death? Losing someone? You may not consider yourself to be a fearful person, and you may not have any phobias, but fear might have a stronger grip on your life than you think.

    Have you ever said to yourself, "I was afraid this would happen?" If you fear something, you will probably go out of your way to avoid it. What actually ends up happening is that your actions actually create the situation you feared. Here is an example:

    Did you see Star Wars Episode III? Anakin feared the loss of his wife so much, that he sold his soul to try and stop that from happening. He ended up causing her early death because he was driven with that fear. He turned to the dark side because he was afraid of losing her. The very thing that he feared happened. Perhaps if he had the faith to know that she would be all right, she would have survived. He certainly would not have hurt her the way he did.

    Think about it. What efforts have you put forth because you are afraid of something happening, or not happening? Do you try to control things because you are afraid that if you don’t have control bad things will happen, or good things won’t happen? What is driving your actions?

    How faith works

    Faith is the opposite of fear. It is a deep knowing that something is true although there may not be physical evidence or a way to prove it to others. It is beyond positive thinking. Faith carries action. If you truly believed that you were going to move, wouldn’t you start packing? If you truly believed that your significant other loves you, and you love them, wouldn’t you trust them? If you truly believed you were having a baby, wouldn’t you prepare a space for it?

    Faith will guide your life, rather than control it (as fear can). The deep knowledge of truth assures you that even though things don’t appear to be going the way you want, in the end the outcome will be how you are picturing it. Faith builds your confidence. If you walk in to an interview knowing that you will be hired, and if not the right job for you will come along, your confidence will be evident. Fear will take away from your confidence and cause doubts. Faith will encourage you to move forward, while fear will cause you to be discouraged and slow you down.

    If you work towards eliminating your fears and building your faith, you will enjoy your life better. It won’t happen overnight; you have to work at it. After a while, you will have more confidence and you will feel more free. Don’t just think positively, but put action with your faith. Don’t let your fear control you. Get control of your life and have faith.

    Remember, what you believe is what you will see, not the other way around.

    Chesley Maldonado (2007)

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