Once upon a time, there was a young, beautiful girl who had seriously low self-esteem. She also had an inferiority complex. Until one day, she met a young man who fell head over heels in love with her. He never ceased to make her feel special.
Over time, this love transformed her life. No more lack of self-esteem. No more feeling less than everybody else….
OK, so I made up that story. But I wanted to use it as an occasion to talk about perfect love. The term perfect love suggests that other qualities of love also exist such as love that is imperfect or not fully matured.
We know God loves us because the Bible says so. But we can know love on a more intimate level. A level so transformative that it delivers us from the torment of fear.
The Bible puts it this way: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18, NASB). This verse is not about us loving God any more. Nor about God loving us any more than He already does. But it’s about us practicing and subsequently experiencing love more completely. The Bible refers to this quality of love as abiding–dwelling or living–in love (verse 16). The more real love becomes in our life, the less we will know the torment of fear.
Overcoming the Torment of Fear with Perfect Love
So, let’s talk about the torment of fear. What happens when we notice some physical changes in our body that concern us? It is not unusual for us to become tormented by fear. We tend to think the worse in terms of what may be happening to us.
Or what happens when business gets slow on the job, and management is talking about cutting staff? Perhaps, we start thinking about all the bills we have and how we are going to pay them. And then fear starts showing us even gloomier possible consequences, if we were to get laid off.
Most of us worry about too many things in life. Especially these days when our world seems so dangerous and unstable. But why should we live in so much fear? The Lord is with us. The Bible is filled with His promises to us. He promises to never leave nor forsake us. To fight our battles. And to supply all our needs.
These promises are expressions of God’s love for us. But, again, it’s not enough for us just to know this truth in our head. Rather, love must be brought to full fruition in our life. The question is, how do we realize perfect love in our life? John writes, “The one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this love is perfected with us…” (1 John 4:16-17, NASB).
It is when we arrive at this state of perfect love that we will no longer be subject to the torment of fear.
Copyright © 2022 by Frank King. All rights reserved.