Perfect Love Casts out Fear

We understand from scripture that love casts out fear. It is not just any sort of love that casts out fear. It is perfect love that does the job. What is this perfect love? And how can we be sources of perfect love for those around us?

The purpose of Fear

Fear is an incredible tool in the enemy’s arsenal. If you are afraid, you are less likely to stretch and reach for what God has in store for you. When fear has a hold of you, your view is blurred. Hope and fear rarely co-exist in harmony. One will always conquer the other.

Our prayer is that hope would conquer any fear in your heart as you read this.

God knows the effects of fear. As such he does not encourage us to be of courage. He commands us to be of courage.

Joshua 1:9 New King James Version (NKJV)

⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

As he did with Joshua, he commands us to be strong and of courage. He goes on to give the reason why we are not to be afraid. “For the Lord God is with you wherever you go.”

Fear is often fuelled by feeling alone as if there is not a way out of a situation. Fear causes you to become unable to see your able aid. You become too focused on the threat, that you no longer see what God is capable of doing. You forget that he is there with you through the fire, and in that storm!

Remember the story of Elisha and his servant? When they were surrounded. The servant could not understand why Elisha was calm. He did not understand why he was not making a plan for an escape.

2 Kings 6:17 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁷ And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Fear puts blinders that will stop you from seeing your salvation. Fear eats at your faith and feeds doubt. May God open your eyes as you read this. Whatever has surrounded you, the mountain is full of horses and chariots of fire all around you!

1 John 4:18 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

What is this love?

There are a lot of ways to define love. We know that God is love. If we can agree that there is no imperfection or blemish in God, then we may say that God is perfect love. The love that casts out fear is modelled after God himself.

Which should lead us to wonder how God expresses his love. Fortunately, we have this question answered in scripture, through John 3:16 as highlighted below.

John 3:16 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God loved so he gave.

God gave his ONLY. He gave his very BEST, his all!

In return is only asks that you would accept what he has freely given. How can we take this and apply it in our own lives to model perfect love?

The main thing we can consider immediately is that perfect love gives without expectation of a return. It is not transactional. If you give me this, I will give you that. It is I have given you that. It is yours to accept, or of course to refuse. And even if you refuse it, it has still been given to you!

Here’s how perfect love casts out fear

1 Corinthians 13:4-13 New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Love is patient

This is what perfect love looks like. It is patient. Another version says, “it is long-suffering”. When you give perfect love, there are no expectations. This puts the one you love at ease. They don’t have to bear the weight of expectation. There is no fear. Are you patient with the ones you say you love?

Love is kind

Patience and kindness go hand in hand. Kindness is doing good things for others without desiring a reward. There are no strings attached to your love. In a marriage, kindness is having no strings attached to your affection. You do things because you care.

No Envy No Boasting No Pride

This is another characteristic of perfect love. It comes without envy. When there is no envy, kindness becomes easier. You are willing to push another person’s cause even when there is nothing in it for you. You are happy to champion their success.

If you are higher or ahead of your loved ones, you are pulling them up or dragging them forward. Only because you want better for them. Pride and love can never co-exist. Perfect love is self-denial! It is sacrificial.

Originally posted 2019-01-21 23:37:57.

We are commanded in scripture, Do Not Grow Weary in Doing Good. Here’s what the verse says.

Galatians 6:9 New King James Version (NKJV)

⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Life can be incredibly difficult for with no reason in sight. They say good things happen to good people. Bad things also happen to very good people. Have you found yourself in a situation when you are doing the right things but not getting the right results, or the desired result?

I know that I have. It is in these moments that we are often tempted to compare ourselves to others. We forget that our journey is unique to use. We forget that we are neither driven nor fuelled by the same thing.

It is easy to try and race with people. What we do not realise is our races are not the same. Those going a short distance can afford to sprint. Those that are in it for the long run have to pace themselves. Rushing is what saps our energy. We become weary.

There are places that you will find yourself by no act of your own. These are usually places that you do not deserve to be in.

We live in evil times. There is more reward and recognition for those who do absurd things than those that make a difference. There is greater resistance for those that want to do good. What incentive is there for the devil to cause distress to those who are just getting by. When the anointing falls on you resistance rises. 

Joseph didn’t grow weary

Joseph found himself in a pit through no actions of his own. He found himself in prison through his desire to honour God. Doing the right thing landed him in the wrong place. Seated in that prison cell, he would have been surrounded by hardened criminals. Men who would not believe his innocence.

He would have found himself surrounded by people who would mock him for turning down Potiphar’s gorgeous wife. Yet, we must never forget that God is sovereignly working in the background. You are where you are for a purpose. There is a reason God has let these things happen. Will you trust him through it all?

It is only in not growing weary in doing good that God opened even greater doors for Joseph. They buried him in a prison without realising he was a seed. They put a seed in a pit, it ended up in a palace. It is only in not growing weary that you will reach the place that God has set aside for you.

Jesus did not grow weary

Jesus is perhaps the greatest example of not getting weary in doing good. He was rejected by the world that he came to save. His own people did not honour him. The ones for whom he came to die paid held him in no esteem. They would be responsible for his demise. 

He knew his purpose and served it to the fullest, though it hurt. It was while we were yet sinners that he died for us. Jesus understood that those who denied and resisted him are the ones that needed him the most.

Mark 2:17

When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

King David didn’t grow weary

The mighty King David, while he was yet a shepherd, lived a fairly quiet life. It was not until he began to step out to do good that resistance came after him. We understand that when the Prophet Samuel anointed him, things changed. His life was suddenly a threat to those who wouldn’t have even given this shepherd a second look.

You miracle is at the end of obedience. It is found at the end of a period of waiting, a period of patience and trusting in the Lord. If you are to get weary, you are tempted to take shortcuts. There is temptation to accept blessings that are clearly not of the Lord, and convince yourself this is God answering you. 

1 Samuel 24

And he said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” ⁷ So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.

David spent a while running for his life. He was at the mercy of the king in whose place he would later sit. In 1 Samuel 24, David finds himself in a position where he could have ended Saul’s life. This would have brought the peace that he had long been praying for.

He was anointed to take this man’s place. David would have rightfully sat where Saul had left. Yet, he understood that this was not God’s will. He chose to do good! He had already been doing good, so we could say that he chose to not grow weary in doing good.

What situations or opportunities are you convincing yourself that they are the Lord’s will when they are clearly not? I will admit that waiting is never easy. The world around us moves at such a fast pace that it is hard to wait for anything.

The Wicked Prosper

Psalm 37

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.

We have all seen people take shortcuts and make great progress in no time. While you were working yourself to the bone all along, some have started after you. They have come and used unscrupulous means to get ahead. When you are struggling, you may have seen how they are thriving. This is very difficult to take. It is a phenomenon that you will see in ghettos across the world.

Those who are diligently digging themselves out of poverty the right way may take a generation or two to get where they want to. The ones who pick up the criminal elements can do this in a matter of months.

Psalm 37 tells us exactly how this goes. They will soon be cut off. Their success is not eternal. What the Lord builds with you will outlast you. The wicked will come and go, but righteousness is eternal.

Summary

What do King David, Jesus and Joseph have in common? They did not grow weary in doing good. As promised in scripture, in due season, they reaped. They did not lose heart and were rewarded for waiting on their lord. Those who wait on the Lord do indeed get their strength renewed.

We see this even in the food that we eat. Healthy food takes time to grow. GMF can be raised in no time, yet the nutritional value and what they give to our bodies is not the same. It is in rushing that we compromise the integrity of everything.

No matter what you are going through right now. Hold on. Keep doing good! Do not grow weary in doing good. Seasons will change. Your season of reaping of all the seed of goodness that you have been sowing will come. Wait… It is a long road, do not get tired!

Originally posted 2019-07-08 22:00:58.