No Fear in Love

No fear in love.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.  We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 4:18‭-‬19 KJV

I've never understood this scripture until recently. How can there be fear in love?

Fear has the power to STOP us from FULLY loving. In all ways, in every type of relationship. 

Our own fears hinder us. Our fears of being hurt. Our fears of getting "too involved". Our fears of being vulnerable. Our fears of the "what ifs". Our fears of allowing someone to see our weaknesses. Our fears of rejection. Our fears of failure.

All of our fears CRIPPLE us from COMPLETELY loving with all we have. Anything worth having or doing in life is completely worth the effort we put into it. In the same way, if we don't give our ALL in EVERY relationship, we are crippling it. We're depriving it and ourselves of everything it COULD BE. We are ultimately cheating ourselves and others.

This ESPECIALLY goes for our walk with God, by which we should fashion every other relationship. If we're fearful in our walk with God, then our love FOR God has not been made perfect. We can't walk with God in fear and expect the outcome to be ALL it can be. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY. That means liberty or freedom to completely SELL OUT to him. We have to give it all to him. Including and most importantly giving him our hearts. He doesn't want part of us, he wants all of us and in our walk with him, we will discover that his love is all we've ever been looking for. Any other love in our lives, whether it be friendship, family, etc., will never truly be WHOLE until we've been made COMPLETE in HIM and Him alone. 

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1 John 4:8 KJV

HE shows us the meaning of true love. A love that doesn't fear what may happen but fully accepts it with arms and a heart open wide. A love that gives so freely of himself and never stops to question whether we deserve it. A love that keeps no record of our wrong doings. A love that has no conditions and no restrictions. A love that enables us to love OTHERS in the same way. Without His love, without knowing His love, then we can't fully and truly love anyone else in the way God desires us to. We should all strive to love others in the same way as He loves us and as his word instructs us to.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

1 Corinthians 13:4‭-‬8 KJV

Out of our faith, the hope we have and love, LOVE is the greatest. Don't be fearful. Open yourself to all God has for you because when God sends his love, it's perfect. 

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

1 Corinthians 13:13 KJV

No fear, just faith and trust that God knows exactly what he's doing and he has our lives right in the palm of his hand.