Luke 1:74 · World English Bible
Luke 1:74 Meaning To Grant to Us That We
to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear,
What does Luke 1:74 mean?
The enemies that seem to hold the mind in their grip are not out in the world at all. They are the mind's own guilt thrown outward, taking the shape of threats and adversaries so the fear can appear to come from somewhere other than within.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
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The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
The enemies that seem to hold the mind in their grip are not out in the world at all. They are the mind's own guilt thrown outward, taking the shape of threats and adversaries so the fear can appear to come from somewhere other than within. To be delivered from their hand is to withdraw the projection and see that no hand was ever gripping but one's own.
Freed from that mistaken fear, the mind can at last love without defending itself. Service without fear is what love looks like once the imagined enemy dissolves, for there is no longer anyone to guard against and nothing left to lose.
Enemies: the mind's own guilt thrown outward, wearing the face of a threat so fear seems to come from elsewhere The hand of our enemies: the grip that felt like attack from outside, revealed as nothing but the mind's own hold on itself
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Live Luke 1:74 today
- When you feel someone is out to get you, ask quietly what you are feeling guilty about. The answer is often closer to home than the enemy.
- Have one conversation today without any defense ready. No explaining yourself before you are asked.
- Someone cuts you off in traffic or snipes at you in a thread. Let the anger rise, then ask what it is protecting, and do the next thing without the armor.
What would I be free to do if nobody were actually against me?
The same truth in other traditions
Buddhism · Dhammapada
The mind's own untrained thinking does more harm than any enemy. What we are fighting is usually inside the one doing the fighting.
Stoicism · Epictetus
We are disturbed not by things but by our opinions about them. The threat we feel sits in the judgment, not out there in the event.
Taoism · Zhuangzi
The man terrified of his own shadow runs faster and the shadow keeps pace. He was never being chased by anything but himself.
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