There is no fear
in a life of Godliness, goodness and righteousness. There is no fear
in Love.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave[a] his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn[b] the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 [c]And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. 21 But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.-John3:16-21
As I read the
Gospel reading, I remember Judas Iscariot and Peter. Because of
Judas' betrayal, he fell into extreme guilt and possibly believed
that he would never be forgiven no matter what. Perhaps he really
blamed himself as he witnessed the brutality done to Jesus. Peter, a
good friend of Jesus, denied Him before the cock crowed. Talk about
dying with Jesus! Perhaps Peter also felt guilt for adding misery to
Jesus by deserting and denying his master at the time that He needed
His 'Rock' the most. Their stories are somewhat the same to me
because each turned away from Jesus. The difference is, Peter
believed that he would be forgiven and be shown mercy, whereas Judas
despaired and believed that he would be condemned for all eternity.
For me, Judas condemned and judged himself, and refused to believe in
Jesus' mercy.
We are sometimes
slaves of our imaginary fears. Sometimes we don't believe in second
chances. Sometimes we think, 'I failed once, I'll fail again' or 'I
was hurt once, I will never love again.' But Jesus is a river of
overflowing love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness. 'Come to the
water, you who are thirsty,' He says (as in Is55:1). No matter how
much or how little we drink, Jesus' water never runs dry and never
fails to comfort. We need not be afraid to try and try again. We need
not be afraid to love again, to start again, to stand again. For
every adventure, Jesus will always be there to accompany and help us.
Though we stumble, we will never fall because He is there for us.
Image courtesy:
Mitchell Tolle
