"Perfect love drives out fear "
LOVE
The author, Don Aycock, begins with sharing his experience during his 2nd year in college.
He experienced a spiritual crisis- a crisis which almost everyone in his age also experience.
A question that kept hunting him like a ghost: Who am I, and does anyone care if I live or die?
And while others are trying to get the answer by trying various vices such as drugs, alcohol, relationship, or entering organizations, Don’s life is almost as many would say “PERFECT” – he is attending a local church, a Youth Sunday school teacher and a son whose parents are still together and attending the church too!
Yet all of these could not help him quiet the question in his mind.
One afternoon, as Don is driving on his way home, God allowed him to take a trip down memory lane - where he remembered the times, he felt loved and protected by his birth family.
In his book LOVE and SURVIVAL, Dr Dean Ornish wrote, “Love and intimacy are at the root of what makes us sick and what makes us well, what causes sadness and what brings happiness, what makes us suffer and what leads to healing. If a new drug had the same impact, virtually every doctor in the country would be recommending it for their patients. It would be malpractice not to prescribe it.”
The intelligent physician acknowledges that LOVE, or the LACK of it, affects us in positive or negative ways, but it is never neutral.
Now, for people who have read the Bible, this news comes as NO SURPRISE. WHY? In 1 John 4:16 it says there “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives is God, and God in him.”
For us to better understand this verse, let us explore this idea further. Let’s dive in! Many of you know that the original language of New Testament is Greek. In that language, three words are primarily used for love:
Philia, Agape, Eros ---- Which of these terms best describes God’s love?
The normal answer is the second word, agape. But the truth is that God’s love is all three terms – and more. As we read the passage from 1 John 4:7-21, we can learn two things from it, first is that it begins and ends with the affirmation that love is from God from first to last.
Don, the author, for him, “Because God is love, I am. I exist through the goodness of His letting there be life.” He spoke the eternal word “Let there be light.” And there was light. Similarly, “Let there be Don.” And there was Don. God expresses His love through His letting be. He lets people and plants and an entire universe. We are because God let us be, and He lets us be because He is love. Lastly, we can love and be loved because God is love.
God created us to love and be loved. It is while we love and allow ourselves to be loved that we are most like God. This does not mean that we play God. It means that as we allow ourselves to love and be loved, we allow ourselves to live in a relationship for which God completely fit us. And as we obey the command to love and be loved, we are also obeying what God designed for us to do- the reason why we are created by Him- to love Him, to love our brothers and sisters and to our future spouse. What about you? How do these two truths impact you? What’s holding you back from allowing yourself to love and be loved? What’s holding you back from loving God and his people? From going extra mile for a brother? From loving by giving to the Lord- time, talent, treasure? What about you? How do these two truths impact you? What’s holding you back from allowing yourself to love and be loved? What’s holding you back from loving God and his people? From going extra mile for a brother? From loving by giving to the Lord- time, talent, treasure? It there is still fear in your heart that keeps you from doing and being then know this, the fruit of the Spirit grows out of love. And let it be that as you allow yourself to love and be loved, let there be no doubt, hesitation or fear in your heart because as it is written in 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.”
