Love God or Fear God?
God is Love and He is also the most lovable personality. However, out of ignorance, most people fear Him more than loving Him. Fearful of incurring His wrath, they perform devotion to Him by engaging their physical bodies in worship like their hands to perform aarti, lips to sing keertans, while paying no attention to engaging their minds. The result is that they are not able to develop love for God.
We have an eternal relationship with God. God is our eternal master, father, mother, friend and our true well-wisher. He is also the ocean of bliss, kindness and mercy. Being His son, it is our eternal right to attain His pure love. Love, which is free from any fear. There are no conditions like performance of Vedic rituals or reciting of Vedic hymns etc. to attain His love. All He asks for is to love Him whole heartedly. Out of his boundless mercy and kindness, He has granted us the privilege to establish any and all relationships with Him. You can think of him as your master, friend, child, father or beloved.
God has many attributes that inspire us to have faith in Him. He has demonstrated His kindness, grace and mercy on multiple occasions, to convince us to believe in and have faith in Him. Some of the reasons to trust Him are:
1. There is no limit to His mercy. The Bhagavat Mahapuran says:
We have an eternal relationship with God. God is our eternal master, father, mother, friend and our true well-wisher. He is also the ocean of bliss, kindness and mercy. Being His son, it is our eternal right to attain His pure love. Love, which is free from any fear. There are no conditions like performance of Vedic rituals or reciting of Vedic hymns etc. to attain His love. All He asks for is to love Him whole heartedly. Out of his boundless mercy and kindness, He has granted us the privilege to establish any and all relationships with Him. You can think of him as your master, friend, child, father or beloved.
God has many attributes that inspire us to have faith in Him. He has demonstrated His kindness, grace and mercy on multiple occasions, to convince us to believe in and have faith in Him. Some of the reasons to trust Him are:
1. There is no limit to His mercy. The Bhagavat Mahapuran says:
अहो बकीयं स्तनकालकूटं, जिघांसया पाययदप्साध्वी ।
लेभे गतिं धात्र्युचितां ततोऽन्यं, कं वा दयालुं शरणं ब्रजेम ॥ भा ३.२.२३
Ahō bakīyaṁ stanakālakūṭaṁ, jighānsayā pāyayadapsādhvī.
Lēbhē gatiṁ dhātryucitāṁ tatō̕n'yaṁ, kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ brajēma. Bhā 3.2.23
लेभे गतिं धात्र्युचितां ततोऽन्यं, कं वा दयालुं शरणं ब्रजेम ॥ भा ३.२.२३
Ahō bakīyaṁ stanakālakūṭaṁ, jighānsayā pāyayadapsādhvī.
Lēbhē gatiṁ dhātryucitāṁ tatō̕n'yaṁ, kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ brajēma. Bhā 3.2.23
The demoness Pootna smeared poison on herself prior to feeding baby Krishna with her milk. Lord Krishna drank the milk laced with poison and while drinking the milk, also sucked out her life. But imagine His immense grace that He sent Pootana, who had viciously planned to kill Him, to His divine abode Golok at the pretext of calling her, His mother, having drank her milk. Who could be more merciful than Him? He killed several other wicked demons like Shishupal and Kans etc. and sent them all to Golok as well. Such is His kindness that His wrath is also a form of mercy.
2. God is our biggest and true well-wisher. He is very concerned about our well-being. It is with this concern in mind that he revealed the Vedas, even before creating this universe to grant us the knowledge of how to lead our lives and how to attain Him. He blessed us with the gift of human life. Human life is the most precious form of life, as this is the only form of life in which a soul is free to perform fruit bearing actions. He sends His saints time and time again, to explain to us, the ultimate goal of life and move us forward on the path of attaining our goal. Then He descends Himself to help us further. However, in spite of all these great efforts, we do not pay heed to Him. But he does not ever give up. He is ever optimistic that one day we will turn towards Him and attain the ultimate bliss.
3. God is such a great friend and guardian that he always stays with us regardless of where we go and what we do. He is with us everywhere, be it in hell or when we are born in lower forms of life like that of dog, pig, donkey etc. Regardless of what kind of thoughts go through our mind, good, bad or spiritual, He keeps a record of each of our thoughts. He is always vigilant, noting our thoughts every moment, in the hope that the moment we surrender to Him, he would forgive all our past sins and graciously deliver us from this world of miseries.
3. God is such a great friend and guardian that he always stays with us regardless of where we go and what we do. He is with us everywhere, be it in hell or when we are born in lower forms of life like that of dog, pig, donkey etc. Regardless of what kind of thoughts go through our mind, good, bad or spiritual, He keeps a record of each of our thoughts. He is always vigilant, noting our thoughts every moment, in the hope that the moment we surrender to Him, he would forgive all our past sins and graciously deliver us from this world of miseries.
4. God is so benevolent towards all His children (jeev). So benevolent that no matter how much we deny His existence or talk ill of Him, He never turns the water or air that we consume to become poisonous, even though He is all powerful and could do so very easily. Instead He provides the same water and air etc. as he does for his beloved devotees.
5. If all this was not enough, He is delighted to serve His devotees by rendering services to them like picking up dishes (e.g. during the Rajsooya yagya performed by Pandavas), house-keeping (e.g. serving Bilva Mangal), working in the farm land (e.g. tilling land for Dhanna Jat), taking care of the horses (e.g. being the charioteer for Arjun) etc.
Pondering on all these and many other points, there is no reason to fear God. God is such a sweet and lovable personality. We don’t need to acquire any skill, knowledge or art to love Him. He wants us to take shelter in His arms, just like an innocent infant clings on to His parents. He would quickly embrace us and deliver us from the miseries of the world.
If we do not take shelter unto His Lotus feet, there is no other option but to suffer in an unending cycle of birth and death. As Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj says:
5. If all this was not enough, He is delighted to serve His devotees by rendering services to them like picking up dishes (e.g. during the Rajsooya yagya performed by Pandavas), house-keeping (e.g. serving Bilva Mangal), working in the farm land (e.g. tilling land for Dhanna Jat), taking care of the horses (e.g. being the charioteer for Arjun) etc.
Pondering on all these and many other points, there is no reason to fear God. God is such a sweet and lovable personality. We don’t need to acquire any skill, knowledge or art to love Him. He wants us to take shelter in His arms, just like an innocent infant clings on to His parents. He would quickly embrace us and deliver us from the miseries of the world.
If we do not take shelter unto His Lotus feet, there is no other option but to suffer in an unending cycle of birth and death. As Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj says:
नर तनु पाय कृपालु चेतु न तु, परि भवकूप मरे ।
Nara tanu pāya kr̥pālu cētu na tu, pari bhavakūpa marē.
Nara tanu pāya kr̥pālu cētu na tu, pari bhavakūpa marē.
Hence fearing God is not a remedy for crossing this ocean of Maya. Rather we should train ourselves to feel the graceful presence of our beloved master at all times. Some happenings in our life may seem unfair and we may feel miserable, for we cannot foresee the future. Have faith and patience, your Master is so kind that He would never let you down. Complete faith in your Master, will make your life happy and satisfied.
