“This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”
1 John 4:17-20
I have known the tormenting power of fear. Perhaps you have too. Spending weeks in Intensive Care Units, I have encountered fear that became like liquid, drip-feeding its paralyzing power into my mind as potently as medication was being pumped into my veins. At my lowest ebb I found relief in the sense of the presence of Jesus. In a near-death encounter, I said of the experience, ‘It seemed as if someone had just turned off the switch marked “evil” and turned on the one labeled “love.” I felt calm and comforted in a way that made me think I was being hugged.’ Perfect love does indeed drive out fear. Like a good shepherd driving away an attacking wolf, Jesus guards his people with his self-sacrificing love.
‘Am I being punished for something?’ is a question I asked myself often during two decades of chronic, serious illness. Fear and self-questioning often go together, but perfect love and fear cannot cohabit. There is a place in our discipleship for prayerful self-searching, perhaps particularly at communion services. But such introspection should always lead us to the cross, the ultimate place for punishment, with its forgiveness, life, and healing for us. We love because God first loved us (v. 19). He took the initiative to reach out and save us while we were still sinners, not just after we had repented. So, for us to be unwilling to love our brothers and sisters is unthinkable. John sets the bar as high as it can go with his declaration that God is love (v. 16) and he recalls the words of Jesus, ‘My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.’ Anything less than that would be a lie.
APPLY
Shepherds played a big role that first Christmas. Consider the love of the Good Shepherd. Let go of your fears and picture him with arms outstretched to hug you.
CLOSING PRAYER
Gracious Father, thank you for your unconditional love that is beyond measure. Use it to drive out of me anything that would make me fearful about standing before you.
(From Encounter with God)