Fears Born of Real Offense

Fear often destroys our effectiveness. And one of the best ways to defeat fear is to face it, to take it out and look at it, to bring it out in the open, and see if it has any substance.

We sometimes fear symptoms. They may be real, they may be imagined. But if they persist, we ought to see a competent and rusted doctor, and get rid of the fears or face the facts. It’s no time for playing guessing games.

Some fears come from physical dangers and some come from conscience. “Conscience,” said Shakespeare “doth make cowards of us all.”¹ He also said that cowards “die many times before their deaths.”²

There are the fears of the man who has made a mistake and doesn’t want to face the facts. There are the fears of a person who tries to explain why he has done what he knows he should do. There are the fears of those how try to sleep at night and find conscience still gnawing at them the next day. There are the fears of those who distrust others because they distrust themselves. There are the fears of those who defy law, the fear of being caught, the fear of never knowing whether or not someone else knows. Such are the fears that sometimes hide behind the bold front and the seeming unconcern.

Some bluff and say they are not afraid when they are shaking inside. Those who have symptoms had better see someone how is qualified to diagnose symptoms. Those who have fears that come from conscience had better face the facts, and find the peace that comes with a quiet conscience.

It is difficult to outrun fear except with facts, because “conscience doth make cowards of us all”—and so does ignorance. We’d better learn what we need to know and do what we ought to do if we want to be free from fear.