We try to turn our fear-based behavior into love-based behavior instead of allowing God who is love to cast it out
“There is no fear in love”
When I read that, I see . . .
“There is no fallen nature or sin or darkness in God”
We cannot turn fear into love. How often do we try though?
And when I say “love,” I mean the kind that moves us to want and do what is best for others above ourselves.
It means the opposite of controlling . . . worrying ourselves until we are not thinking straight.
Power, love, and a sound mind as we know the scriptures to tell us.
That scripture is describing something very different from fear.
Let’s swap the words for a second: from "perfect love" to God and "fear" to the ways of this fallen world.
God (perfect love) casts out or expels [to where there is no more room for] the ways of this fallen world (fear).
That's the father we have in Him, but how often do we try and expel the fear?
We get frustrated sometimes attempting to have a "perfect love" for people we think we should . . . like a spouse or family member or significant other.
We expect that of ourselves and with that unrealistic expectation, we can expect to continually invite shame and guilt in for not meeting it.
How often do we try and fight against the fear as if we think we stand a chance?
Is God saying that we can expel darkness with our will-power or positive thinking?
Or even re-adjusting our focus or trying to “calm ourselves down” . . .
We are all guilty of doing this.
Yet, that is not the truth our Creator revealed to show us how to handle fear.
"Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear"
The word used here for "perfect" is "tel-i-o'-o" which translates to meaning basically to be found perfect and complete and to be brought to an end or to be finished.
I don't think I need to go too deep into the fact that none of us will ever fit that on this side of heaven.
Actually, there is only one who has and His name is Jesus.
Like so many other times in scripture, God's message here is simple:
You need me.
But for some reason like everything else we face, we try on our own strength to forcibly change our behaviors because we know all too well we don't measure up.
But Jesus did not die on the cross so God the Father would have well behaved children.
This is about one thing . . . and that's relationship.
We try to turn our fear-based behavior into love-based behavior instead of allowing God who is love to cast it out.
Where is your focus?
Is it on the things that worry you?
Here is a practical picture I see when I think about all of this.
I worked in children's ministry for years. One of the many things I noticed, not always necessarily the case but for the most part evident, is I could tell who were Pastor's kids and who were not.
Again, this wasn't always the case because I met plenty of well taken care of children who lived in a home of God's love, but I could usually tell who were children of a Pastor's family.
They were typically much more secure in how they interacted with their other peers and they just smiled more.
They had more fun . . . enjoyed and engaged more in the activities we did . . . and didn't show signs of shame for just being a kid.
Why is that?
Were they focused on being "fearless" like so many of these cheesy quotes we see on Instagram?
Or maybe there is something so much more deeper than that going on every time I would notice the children who were different than the others?
It was relationship.
The most secure a child can be is directly connected to their relationship with their father and mother.
A son walking along side of his father on a dark path in the middle of the woods is secure and fearless not because he could do it without his father.
He would not feel the same without his dad right there with him.
No, if that father has loved that child and taken care of him and built him up in their identity in who they were created to be . . .
That child is secure knowing they have their dad right there with them.
It's all relationship.
Love isn’t a behavior!
Love is a being!
Love is a living being who is God our Father, Jesus our Savior, and His Spirit within us, our comforter and leader in all truth.
Why wouldn’t we go to the relationship with our Father who already exists . . . to the Love in which we already have full access to?
We try to conjure up some behavior that doesn’t yet exist and never will in our repertoire in being less fearful or stressed or full of anxiety.
Yet, God has given us the way of His design.
It is not and never will be our behavior that will break us away from fear.
It is growing in our relationship with God and letting that closeness with Him change us . . . our very "DNA make-up" sort of speak!
He is perfect love and He alone is the only one who can cause fear and all its accosiates to be expelled from moment to moment.
Let's turn our focus from fear and whatever else we feel we fail in and turn our focus towards our relationship with our Creator alone . . . and everything else must come into alignment.
(Let's pray together)
Father, in Jesus' name help me to instead, focus on our relationship . . . the relationship You want so badly with me . . . to be close and for You to be involved with every part of my life. Thank You that You are that loving perfect father who gives me security and confidence in any situation because I have You. I don't want to be obsessed with my behavior and all the symptoms of not walking closely to You . . . but instead be obsessed with being close to You and staying there. I want to talk to You about everything and listen to what You want to say to me and feel You directing my life. I surrender in a new way right now to that. I love You, Father.
-scripture used: 1 John 4:18
