Mental health is to overcome your “fear of man.”
Are you afraid of what man can do or say to you?
Look at the signs:
Fear of disapproval.
Fear of rejection.
Fear of criticism/judgment.
Fear of betrayal.
Fear of being cheated.
Fear of loss of financial support.
Fear of abandonment.
Fear of loss of love/relationship.
Fear of setting limits/boundaries.
Fear of being harmed or killed.
To a greater or lesser extent, the fear of man is there in all of us.
Psychopathology is often grounded on the fear of man in severe, extreme, or dysfunctional degree.
There is psychological paralysis in the fear of man.
“I still feel afraid whenever I’m around my Mom even now. I used to break down and feel bad when I was little every time she shouted at and call me names,” narrated Wilma, 45, during our GoogleMeet session.
Fear of man shows up through a variety of triggers, such as: fear of judgment or criticism; fear of humiliation; need for approval/fear of disapproval; need for acceptance; peer-pressure; need for honor; need for recognition; and others.
When unresolved and unmetabolized, these triggers can create mental and emotional disorders in a person.
Very common symptoms of these include: low self confidence; self worth that depends on other people; timidity or passivity; unable to be one’s self; indecisiveness; unstable emotions.
Marshall Segal writes, ”We often fail to confront, or even recognize, the fear of man, because it so often looks like love, and too many of us love to look loving.”
The fear of man is truly one of the greatest roadblocks to mental, emotional, relational, physical or material, and spiritual health.
How then do you overcome your fear of man?
Two “secret” insights can prove helpful.
One: Look at any human being – whatever their station in life – as finite and who will one day be dead. Out of this world, for sure – sooner or later. Should you fear a fellow mortal?
As Writer Sylvan Barnet put it, “Man is mortal. This is his fate. Man pretends not to be mortal. That is his sin. Man is a creature of time and place, whose perspectives and insights are invariably conditioned by his immediate circumstances.”
Two: Trust in God completely for your inner security.
Scriptures states,
“In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 56:11)
“The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” (Proverbs 29:25)
“The mind governed governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6).
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Fear your fear of man. Overcome it.
“We often fail to confront, or even recognize, the fear of man, because it so often looks like love, and too many of us love to look loving.” – Marshall Segal
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