In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, for we are as He is in this world. There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He first loved us.
1 John 4:17-19 HCSB
The bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8). Maybe that’s why there is so much scripture on love. We are told that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). We are told that love binds everything together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:14). Jesus said in John 13:34-35, that people would know that we are his disciples if we have love for one another. We are told in Corinthians 16:14 to let all that we do be done in love. There is a love chapter in the bible, 1 Corinthians 13. This chapter describes the attributes of love. When the disciples asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was (Matthew 22:36-40), he gave them two. The first was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. The second was to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Perhaps you have found that love in your life that makes you feel secure and cherished. Perhaps you fantasize about finding it some day. We all want to be loved, right? Now perhaps my title had you thinking we were going to talk about spooky, creepy things and you are surprised to see that our topic is love. Well love can be a spooky, creepy thing if we are not careful. The term love is overused in our society. We love certain movies or we love chocolate, but today I am talking about real love. I am talking about the kind of love that God has for us. The kind that is steady and does not waiver.
The problem is if you have lived on this planet for more than a few years, you may have suffered betrayal at the hands of someone who claimed to love you. You may have been hurt by love. This leads to fear. If you have ever watched the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan, then you know that dogs become aggressive out of fear. I’ve come to realize that most of us humans do the same. We become easily offended or get our guard up when we feel that someone may hurt us. So today I ask what are you afraid of? Are you afraid of the broken heart that you have suffered in the past from loving and trusting someone who promised to never hurt you? Are you afraid that you will never measure up to the one who claims to love you? Are you afraid that the one you love will never be capable of reciprocating the kind of love that you have for them?
We live in a cold, cruel world. It is easy to become bruised and battered. But we must understand that there is perfect love. This is the love found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the love that drove Him to lay His life down for us (John 15:13) while we were miserable, filthy sinners (Romans 5:8). We can love God free from fear. Our scripture passage tells us that perfect love drives out fear. I can’t control what anyone else does, but I can live my life in love and not in fear. The bible tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and sound judgment (2 Timothy 1:7).
So, if you are walking around hating and growling at those you come in contact with, I ask you what are you afraid of? Maybe you are suffering from a ton of previous hurt. Maybe you are afraid of being hurt again. Trust in God’s love to drive that fear out. Trust in God’s perfect love to save you. Learn to love others and see them the way that God sees them. If He has done this for us and He has overlooked our imperfections I would think that would be the least we could do for others. If He has forgiven us for the many times we opposed Him and broke His heart, can’t we do the same? This will allow us to go into the day of judgment with confidence and this will drive out all of our fear. Ask God to show you how to walk in love today.
Have a great day!