Perfect love...Fear or Faith

"But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment"

- 1 John 4:16-18

I was studying this verse the other day and the phrase "perfect love" stood out to me.... Perfect Love? Who was He kidding? I can't do that! I'm not perfect! I began to think about all the times that I should have or could have done something different... I began to focus on my failures in my relationships with other people. No one I know is perfect.

But God nudged me to read it again, this time with a different perspective. I quickly realized that I had missed the meaning! This verse was not about me or what I could accomplish. This verse was talking about Christ's love. It is HIS perfect love that eliminates fear!

Even on my best day I fall far short of perfect but I know that perfect love has come....in Jesus! We can eliminate fear. We can defeat fear if we just receive His fift. The only way to experience the perfect love that casts out fear is to rely on what God tells us He's already given. We are "made perfect in love" by resting in Christ.

God knows that we are going to struggle with fear. He knows that we are at war with this world and that this world constantly draws us from Him in fear. There are thousands of reasons we fear... Money? Acceptance? Lonliness? Relationships? Health?

Think about it....

How much stronger/bettwe would we be if we replaced fear with faith! The same situations that inspure fear are very often the same contidions that inspure faith. We have the choice....fear or faith? Our difficulties, concerns and questions don't seperate us from God... fear seperates us from God.

Our fear is really unbelief.

We think...God Can't or God won't so I must.

But faith....faith choses to believe that God can... God loves us, God wants too.

Our response should be to trust Him!

Fear and Faith both exist within us. We can not eliminate fear. As long as we are a part of this world we will have situations we fear. The question is which one (fear or faith) will have control of our lives. Only one can rule our heart. The more we open our heart and the more we turn to Him and rely on Him, the less control fear has. Its power weakens.

Only faith offers us the gift of quietness and rest.

the WOW of Jesus

My little brother, Bryan, played baseball growing up. He practiced for hours hitting, running bases, drills, pithching... He loved the game. His hero was Cal Ripken. Bryan spent hours/days working on his technique. He was a really good pitcher. He didn't have much speed but had excellent placement of the ball and could put it wherever my dad told him too. My dad spent time working with Bryan and teaching him new things and challenging Him to improve. It was something that the two of them shared. Dad was the coach, Bryan was the pitcher. A typical week may look like this: Batting cages on Tuesdays, Team practices on Monday and Wednesday, pitching practice Friday and games on Saturdays.... It was grueling!

It was constant pressure for Bryan. Dad was constantly talking baseball and constantly asking Bryan questions and telling Bryan he needed to improve The intentsity of the HOW made Bryan forget the WOW! of the game. He eventually stopped playing because all the practices and pressures frustrated him. Bryan got so buried in the technique of playing baseball that he lost the joy and pleasure and pure fun of playing.

This makes me think of Christians.... I am not suggesting that we don't study, don't pray, don't serve... I am suggesting that instead we often times lose sight of the WOW! of Christ. Our focus on the HOW may even be well-intended but still we sometimes lose sight of the WOW! The How mutes the WOW!

• WOW! God Loves me...
• WOW! God sent His Son Jesus to die for me....
• WOW! The spirit of God is present within me...
• WOW! The same God who placed the moon and the starts and the sun into the stky he also created me! I am God's workmanship! (Ephesians 2:10) WOW! - His Masterpiece

So what do we do......

• We must stay deliberate on focusing on the WOW! Don't ever forget His love for you and the sacrifice that Jesus paid for you... Celebrate that gift and never take it for granted!
• Remember that God is interested in YOU. You will find the greatest joy in being in a relationship with Him. The relationships we have with Him and others are far more important then success, fame or wealth. God is truly interested in the life of each person he placed on the planet.
• Staying focused on the WOW! does not sggest that the How is unimportant or that the WOW! can compromise Biblical Truth. Find time to study and grow personally in your relationship with the Lord.
• The WOW! guides the How....When we focus on loving God it will lead to us loving others Matthew 22:37-40