Fear and Perfect Love
1 John 4:15-20
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
Just taking the first part of this, I notice that the wording of acknowledging Jesus as the Son of God is very similar to the wording of "whoever loves God." It is really difficult to love someone and hate their child. Living in God is abiding in God. When we abide in God it means we are studying God's word and making his word the standard we hold ourselves to. While we might not always succeed, we acknowledge our failures as OUR failures without blaming God for them. When we abide in God, our love for him grows because we recognize just how glorious the gifts he has provided us are. In this way we have no need to feel fear because we have no punishment to face. Those of us who are not abiding still feel fear because we are not wearing God's armor of truth, righteousness, and peace and we lack confidence and trust in our God...so we feel fear in those areas of our lives where we know we are denying what God has asked of us.
When we are abiding in God instead of condemning others for not abiding in God, we feel compassion for what they are facing in their struggles. When WE are NOT abiding in God, we are quick to condemn others for fear of the condemnation we know we deserve, but choose to blindly ignore within ourselves.
When I read of perfect love, I think of 1 Corinthians 13.
1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
While we can brag about all the ways that we are so much better than everyone else, God knows the truth. God knows the masks that we wear for everyone around us. God knows the mask of fake righteousness that we choose to hide behind rather than simply acknowledging our failures and moving forward. In his love for us, he will sometimes lovingly remove that mask for us so that we might see that EVEN THOUGH we must admit our failures...he DOES still love us. This is how I see perfect love driving out fear. Perfect love is a love that loves us knowing that even though we make mistakes, when we acknowledge them, we have nothing left TO fear. Our shame is in the anticipation of those things which we know we DESERVE condemnation for. In perfect love, we have no reason to feel shame because we have already acknowledged our mistakes, learned from them, corrected what we could and accepted responsibility for our actions.
In the same way, when we see someone going through a hard time, instead of condemning that person, we should recognize that if the person is aware that they have erred they do not need to hear over and over about their poor choices. Condemning a fellow Christian for his or her sin against God is not our responsibility. Perfect love (following 1 Cor 13) keeps no record of wrongs. If the person has accepted responsibility, then continually bringing up their mistake is not bearing Christlike "perfect love" for your brother. If the person has not accepted responsibility, perhaps it is time to 'shake the dust off' and move on to greener pastures until such time as that person is ready to repent. Fear of condemnation will only drive those living in fear continue to make decisions based in that fear rather than based in God's love and what is best for every one of us is God's love.
God bless
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
Just taking the first part of this, I notice that the wording of acknowledging Jesus as the Son of God is very similar to the wording of "whoever loves God." It is really difficult to love someone and hate their child. Living in God is abiding in God. When we abide in God it means we are studying God's word and making his word the standard we hold ourselves to. While we might not always succeed, we acknowledge our failures as OUR failures without blaming God for them. When we abide in God, our love for him grows because we recognize just how glorious the gifts he has provided us are. In this way we have no need to feel fear because we have no punishment to face. Those of us who are not abiding still feel fear because we are not wearing God's armor of truth, righteousness, and peace and we lack confidence and trust in our God...so we feel fear in those areas of our lives where we know we are denying what God has asked of us.
When we are abiding in God instead of condemning others for not abiding in God, we feel compassion for what they are facing in their struggles. When WE are NOT abiding in God, we are quick to condemn others for fear of the condemnation we know we deserve, but choose to blindly ignore within ourselves.
When I read of perfect love, I think of 1 Corinthians 13.
1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
While we can brag about all the ways that we are so much better than everyone else, God knows the truth. God knows the masks that we wear for everyone around us. God knows the mask of fake righteousness that we choose to hide behind rather than simply acknowledging our failures and moving forward. In his love for us, he will sometimes lovingly remove that mask for us so that we might see that EVEN THOUGH we must admit our failures...he DOES still love us. This is how I see perfect love driving out fear. Perfect love is a love that loves us knowing that even though we make mistakes, when we acknowledge them, we have nothing left TO fear. Our shame is in the anticipation of those things which we know we DESERVE condemnation for. In perfect love, we have no reason to feel shame because we have already acknowledged our mistakes, learned from them, corrected what we could and accepted responsibility for our actions.
In the same way, when we see someone going through a hard time, instead of condemning that person, we should recognize that if the person is aware that they have erred they do not need to hear over and over about their poor choices. Condemning a fellow Christian for his or her sin against God is not our responsibility. Perfect love (following 1 Cor 13) keeps no record of wrongs. If the person has accepted responsibility, then continually bringing up their mistake is not bearing Christlike "perfect love" for your brother. If the person has not accepted responsibility, perhaps it is time to 'shake the dust off' and move on to greener pastures until such time as that person is ready to repent. Fear of condemnation will only drive those living in fear continue to make decisions based in that fear rather than based in God's love and what is best for every one of us is God's love.
God bless
posted by Dancer | 3:39 PM
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