Perfect love casts out fear…
It is amazing to me how one simple phrase can carry such power and challenge me so much.
Perfect love cast out fear…
If you asked me if I am a person who loves…I would say, “Yes”.
If you asked me if I love people, I would answer, “Absolutely”.
Of course I love people. Of course I want the best for others. Of course I want to forgive and grant people a second chance. Of course I want to show kindness. Of course I want to show love through my actions and my words.
Then…why does love so often escape me in the moments I need it most?
Why when I should offer forgiveness do I find myself wanting to judge?
Why when I should offer compassion do I find myself callous and cold?
Why when I should offer understanding do I find myself being critical?
Maybe it’s because, if I’m honest with myself, often I am afraid.
Afraid of being too vulnerable; afraid of being hurt; afraid of giving someone love when they don’t deserve it. Afraid…If I truly surrender all and love unconditionally that I will somehow lose some of who I am.
Then there are those words… “Perfect Love cast out all fear”. So what is perfect love?
This phrase comes from a passage of scripture in the Bible which reads…
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. 1 John 4:15-21 NASU
Maybe I struggle with showing love because in and of myself, love is not perfected. Maybe perfect love can only exist when I surrender to the one who made love…the one who is love; the one who gave His life to prove love.
The more I understand God’s love for me the less fear I have in loving others. He showed the way in giving His all for me…for you. For this I love Him…and because of this…I am not afraid…and because I am not afraid…I can love.
Perfect love casts out all fear
Unwritten 