The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

“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.” 1 John 4:18

When I read this verse is honestly made me mad.  “Great now is what wrong with me?”  God is always telling me I am a sinner and now because I fear I am somehow not perfected in love.

Why do I always feel like I always have to work on something about myself?

As I sat back and reflected on this verse I knew what this verse was saying was right.  So often we hear, fear not the Lord has everything in control.  Do not fear, do not fear.....but to not fear in the face of adversity is against every grain fiber that we have.  And that is why it is so hard.

The absence of fear is so easy to have when we can see what is on the other side.  But happens when you are broke, unemployed, alone, or do not know where you next meal in coming from; are you going to not fear then?  And if you do fear, does it mean that you are not perfected in love?  Does it mean that you do not trust God fully?

I would love to tell you that if you do not fear the future that your life is going to be filled with lollipops and gum drops.

 But I want to go in this deeper so you can really understand what I am saying.  So stay with me:

We know that God always loves us and if we know that God always loves us then we should not fear because  God goes ahead of us and therefore that means that no matter what we are going through we should trust that if God loves us it will all be okay.
Sounds nice doesn't it?  But what happens when you are 45 plus and you have never been married, are you going to be absent of fear then?  Are you still going to feel like God has someone for you then?

What about if you have lost your job and you have been applying again and again and have been turned down time and time again?


Or when your bills are tight and you have no idea where your next meal or rent is coming from, are you still going to have no fear?

Even as the tow truck is taking away your car due to it being repossessed and you have no idea on how you are going to get it back, are you still not going to be fearful then?

If a love one has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and you are unsure of their future, are you still not going to fear?

Not having fear does not mean that you will not have hardship, it only means that you do not fear because even in the midst of the hardship God is still in control and you know that things will work out....even if you do not see how.

Having no fear means if it does not work out the way that you like then you have to believe that God loves you, and He has plans for your good and not harm.  Even if it does not seem that way on the surface.


I was having a conversation with God last night and He was asking me why I was so fearful of the future.  When I thought about it, I was fearful of the unknown, I was fearful about what other people thought, and I was fearful that things would not work out the way I wanted them to.

Then God told me “ So what.”

So what to all of what I just said, so what to all of my fears.  So what if things do not work out the way I liked, people do not like what I am doing, or think it’s weird.  So what.

As long as I was doing what I felt God has placed on my heart and I was on the path that He set for me, what is there to fear?

With this thought I came to realize that this was something that I needed to work on.  To not fear about anything weather the future was going to be good or bad is perfect love.  And the reason why it is perfect love is because God loves me and weather the days are good or bad, I am still doing what He wants me to do.  And if I love God, then I should be happy with doing his will.

This idea is so simple but hard.

I do not know if perfect love could ever be reached.  I do not know if I could wake up every day and say that I do  not fear anything.  There as a time that I did.  But as you grow spiritually, there is always ways you are going to be tested.  Choosing to not fear about anything in the future in an ultimate test, and the ability to conquer that fear means that you have perfected love.  Not just with God, but in all areas of your life, even with your other relationships.



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