1 John 4:18 TPT
Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection.
It is odd to put the two words of love and fear in the same sentence, but both speak to the nature of God and the expected results when dealing with Him. He is the person, essence and identity of love, and whoever claims to know or live in Him must express that identity. However, like all things divine, there is the other side of the love of God that must be talked about the right way, so we can have a healthy and balanced view of who God is and what He wants from us. Love and Fear both have good and bad examples and definitions, so it is important to know what is the real deal, so you can identity and reject the fake. Love that tells you that there is no consequence to evil is not the real deal. Love that encourages careless living, with no thought of how your actions affect others, is also not the real deal. On the flip side too, true love breeds respect and reverence, especially when you consider and realise what you have received for free. We deserved punishment, which indeed would have been the basis for fear, but love came and paid the full price for our sin. Only true love could do that.
With this kind of love, it will be an anomaly to again live in fear, if you have received and responded to this love. How can I allow the devil to keep reminding me of my past and the consequences of my actions then, when I have received the love of God, love that passes all human understanding? Fear is the fuel for a lifestyle of sin, because you will never feel you deserve the love you have been shown, and that feeling will keep one in bondage. It becomes a daily struggle to try and please God by works and labour, and forgetting that there is really nothing I could add to the love I have already been shown. Labour is great, when it is founded on the understanding of who I am, what I am, what I have received and what is expected of me. I am not working hard by my own power to please God, but by my life, I am showing off the mercy and the grace of God by the love of God in my heart. I can add nothing to the love of God, but I can make it known and manifest to the world. How and where are you walking: in love or in fear? God's time of favour is here.
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