"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."Could you explain what it means? I used to think that it was saying you can be proud, but God opposes the proud; therefore I believed it was wrong. But my teacher explained it as using the gifts God gave us... and now I'm confused.
To understand qu
otes, you must first understand the person behind the quote. Marianne Williamson is a leader in the "New Thought" (or "New Age") movement which incorporates elements of Christianity, Judaism and other world religions. However, their beliefs contradict almost everything Christianity is about. For example, the movement's promotes the ideas that "Infinite Intelligence" or "God" is ubiquitous (i.e. present in all places at once), spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, all sickness originates in the mind, and 'right thinking' has a healing effect.If you read this article, it explains exactly why these ideas are completely contradictory to Christian doctrine. I believe the biggest problem with Williamson's quote is that it assumes that people are good people with good hearts and are capable of good actions. This is simply untrue. We are not good people. We are sinful people who desperately need God's mercy and salvation. We cannot "shine" or "manifest the glory of God" unless we receive this salvation in Christ first. Once we die to ourselves, repent of our sin, trust in God's forgiveness, and live in relationship with God - then we can "shine like stars" (Philippians 2:15) and "glorify God" (Psalm 50:15). Summarily, I cannot agree with your teacher. The quote isn't really about using the gifts God has given you. It's about the nature of mankind. You are correct. God does oppose the proud (James 4:6) and this is exactly what the quote is about: Being proud of yourself and inspiring others to do the same.
[Answered by Pastor HM]
