Perfect love drives out fear.
1 John 4:18-19 BSB “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.
19 We love because He first loved us.”
How can we obtain perfect love from God, for it drives out fear? There are many Christians in the world, and even in our own church, where they are operating from a position of fear, insecurity, lack of confidence, and lack of courage. Why? What does fear do? People fear punishment. They fear loss of position, humiliation, exposure, or being shown their true nakedness.
The Bible has all the answers, yet we can read and let the answers pass by because we are refusing to make the hard choice. We are choosing to take the wide road. We are creating our own definition of right and wrong and concluding that we have complied with God’s commandments or desires.
Let us look at scripture as we read backward.
1 John 4:16-17 BSB “And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17 In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.”
The above scripture tells us we must abide in love to abide in God, for HE is love. If we abide in Him, then God is in us. And as we continue to abide in Him, love is perfected in us. This is a process that involves suffering, experiencing loss, being mocked, developing endurance, being broken, and experiencing much betrayal.
So how do we abide in Him? Is it a thought process? Do we just say, “I love you, God,” with all our emotions? Do we pray? Do we read? Do we need to go to church to show we love God? Yes, those are parts to a whole, but still, a more difficult task is needed to accomplish. Let us continue to read scripture.
1 John 4:11-13 BSB “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit.”
Examine verse 12 more closely. God only flows through the pathway of love. We must love and continue to love others for our love to be perfected. Most people can love for a moment, but they cannot stay abiding as it becomes very hard to love a difficult person.
But you say you are loving? Then why do you have fear? Anxiety? Why do you lack courage? Etc?
Being nice and doing what you are told to help others is not necessarily loving people from your own heart. Moreover, on the flip side, being the recipient of needing constant help without becoming mature is not one who learns to love but one who stays a baby. What do babies do? They cry and are frightened of almost anything! Can God still make babies into leaders? Of course, you can be a leader and still a baby who needs love perfected.
So before you think you are loving God’s people, then think why do you have so much fear, anxiety, restlessness, insecurity, fear in loss of position or authority, and fear of humiliation? You must reconsider the definition that you have been applying when it comes to loving people and think about what God’s definition is!
Read comments below:
If you are married and constantly fighting and bickering, how is love perfected in you?
If you fight and argue with your boss, customers, and coworkers, how is love perfected in you?
The first order is to stop arguing and fighting. Does this bring us to perfect love? No, but it is a start. Just as a thief needs to stop stealing is a start to becoming an honest person.
But if all we do is fight, argue, and devour each other, scripture says God cannot remain in you.
And if God does not remain in you, then fear remains in you.
Senior Pastor Steve Kim