A passage I love

Well, this is a bit late for Valentine's Day, but it is still true, so bear with me.

I John 4:18a (NLT) "Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear."

In context, this is talking about a fear of future judgement, which we as Christians do not have to worry about. Why? Because Jesus Christ has taken that judgement on Himself, and has already paid the penalty. Wow! What love!

On a more practical level, because we know that God is in control and LOVES us so much, we do not have to fear. Period. End of discussion. He will not let anything happen to us that He does not want to happen. Yes, this may mean that at times, something "bad" may happen, but He has a reason; we just don't have His perspective on the situation.

This verse really started "coming home" to us after armed robbers broke into our house in our village in Cameroon, less than a month after we had moved in (1998). While we watched, they stole a lot of our stuff, then tied us up and drove off in our vehicle. Talk about fear after that! It took quite a while for God's Word (and many loving people's comfort and support) to soak in. And yet today we can say that we KNOW this verse is true. While we are still human, and still fear at times, we can always come back to this promise - perfect love DOES expel all fear.

What greater love do we need?