There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts our fear.
1John 4:18 ESV
I heard him say it on the radio…
Many people are afraid because they have never been loved.
It came as a missing piece… a revelation on love…
So this is what I heard… what stuck with me… If you fear… you have not been loved…
Or rather… you have not experienced being loved… perfectly…
I think about my own relationships of love… where there is fear…
Fear to broach certain subjects… fear to ask…
It all comes with a chance of being shot down… rejected… dismissed… diminished…
And I realize… when we place our hopes… for security… fulfillment… satisfaction… in the love of another person… they will fail to love us perfectly… there is something to be afraid of…
There is only One… who loves perfectly…
That’s why His first and greatest commandment is…
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. …”
Matthew 22:37 ESV
Because when we love Him first and best… we put ourselves in the position to receive perfect love from Him… perfect love which casts our fear…
Firmly secure in His love… we can begin to love others without fear… not perfectly… but without fear…
Trusting His sovereign… steadfast… eternal… love… we can enter the realm of loving other people without fear… because we are perfectly loved… by Him…
We love because He first loved us.
1John 4:19 ESV
[Photo by Alex Block on Unsplash]
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