Verse of the week -- I John 4:18
Fear sometimes controls our thoughts, holds us back from God's great love for us. Love and fear cannot coexist. We should clothe ourselves in humility, gentleness, self control, and faith, but not fear.
Fear can precipitate failure, limitations, depression, worry, and timidity. When we rest in God's great love for us we recognize that in His great power, we can live without fear. I John 4:18 tells us that fear involves punishment. We don't live with punishment though, because Christ willingly took our punishment.
When we realize that our place is secure in God's love we also realize that fear has no place there. We may still give into it at times because our fallen nature answers its persistent knocking, but God continues to perfect us, and draw us out of that fear.
I love that I serve a God that knows me, knows my needs, my weaknesses, my faults, and loves me anyway, seeing me as worth working on despite all of that. Understanding the depth of His love will take me until eternity, but I do know it is always deeper than what I need, and always strong enough to surrender my fears to. His love is that perfect love.
Fear can precipitate failure, limitations, depression, worry, and timidity. When we rest in God's great love for us we recognize that in His great power, we can live without fear. I John 4:18 tells us that fear involves punishment. We don't live with punishment though, because Christ willingly took our punishment.
When we realize that our place is secure in God's love we also realize that fear has no place there. We may still give into it at times because our fallen nature answers its persistent knocking, but God continues to perfect us, and draw us out of that fear.
I love that I serve a God that knows me, knows my needs, my weaknesses, my faults, and loves me anyway, seeing me as worth working on despite all of that. Understanding the depth of His love will take me until eternity, but I do know it is always deeper than what I need, and always strong enough to surrender my fears to. His love is that perfect love.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
~I John 4:18~
~I John 4:18~
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