Love is Greater Than Fear
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:16-18
Are you ever afraid? I think we all have answered yes during certain seasons of our lives. Fear is certainly one of the most effective tools of Satan. He uses fear to control men. He uses fear to propagandize men. He uses fear to keep Christians from being faithful. Fear realistically disables our ability to love God, and we find ourselves in a vicious cycle of living in fear rather than living in Christ’s love.
Fear is the antithesis of love. The ideas stand over and against each other like David and Goliath facing off before battle (1 Sam. 17). David was a young man standing before a man with far more experience. David, however, would not let fear stop him from standing up for his faith in the LORD God. David understood personally what John would write later, "God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him (cf. 1 John 4:16)." David had pitched his tent with the Lord. He knew His deliverance, he knew His power, he knew His love. The only way that David would be able to stand up against the giant was to trust in the veracity of God’s perfect love.
David also knew that there was no room for fear in love, but just as he cast the stone that struck Goliath, fear must be cast out by perfect love. John wrote, “There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love (1 John 4:18).” Perfect love is complete, a love that has reached its desired aim.
In Christ, God's perfect love is lived out in how we respond to everything we encounter. Perfect love will yield obedience, zealousness, determination, and a rejection of the fear with which Satan seeks to afflict us. Let us all resolve to be perfected in the love of the LORD.
Grace and Peace,
R.D. Beavers
