1 John 4.18 There
is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with
punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. - St. John,
the Divine
At this age, one of the necessities (and blessings) of
reading the Bible through on an annual basis is being reminded of what is in
it. Today, for example, I read through several chapters of Jeremiah (one of my
favorite books in all of Scripture) and read again these verses:
“And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them
one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and
the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting
covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the
fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in
doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all
my heart and all my soul.” (Jeremiah 32: 38-41 ESV)
I needed to read that today and hear the message in my
mind. I also needed to hear: “There is no
fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with
punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” There is a
plan and purpose to life and fear has no place in true life. We are not called
to fear but to love.
Love isn’t all mushy-gushy; love is the pinnacle of any
relationship that is built upon trust and mutual affection. All brothers and
sisters in the family of God are called to live in love. And that love is to be
honored and sacred, and is to be displayed for all the world to see: that here
on earth the things that drive us to argue, fight, and disagree, and war, are
not done from the standpoint of love, but from the standpoint of the world and
its way of settling matters. Tom Brady, Roger Goodell, work it out!
But Brady and Goodell can’t work it out because they are
coming at the matter from a worldly standpoint and not from the love of God.
The love of God in His people for each other as valued and precious, is to be
on display as the ISIS killers hold the knife to the throat of the believer and
begins to saw. It needs to be on display in my church this morning. We are
precious to each other and we must recognize that fact!
What are the things I am afraid of? Do you want me to start alphabetically or numerically? The bigger question is: as God’s child, why am I afraid of anything at all!? Perfect love casts out all fear… fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Why am I afraid of anything at all!? Perhaps, I am ignoring perfect love, and missing out on being perfected in love. Plain truth.
Father God, let’s You and I talk about this. Thank You. Amen.
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