There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1John 4:18)
“There is no fear in love…” So does that mean that anytime we feel fear we are doing something wrong? Well… I think anytime we are doing anything that is not in love, we are on the wrong path. Jesus was all about love – read His life story in the gospels – when did He not do something “in love”? And consequently, when was he “in fear”?
Of course, the only “perfect love” is from God. And where God’s love is, we not only have no torment, but we have no sin! This is an amazing thing to think about – there is no sin when we abide in Christ! Now, if we could only abide in Christ more…
It’s an easy thing to say that we should abide in Christ, but not so easy to do, huh? How to make it last? I want to abide in Him every minute of every day, but it often seems I cannot even make it more than a few minutes before “the cares of this world” distract me. Often, I will be right in the middle of a prayer, praising Jesus for all the good things He’s done, and a thought will pop right into the middle of everything that will make me falter… next thing I know I’m praying for forgiveness!
What’s up with being human, anyway?
But abiding in Christ is the only way to keep ourselves from sin, because when we abide in Him, we are also guided by His Spirit. And as we know, the Spirit that guides us will never do us wrong! In Him, I know no distress, no sin, no fear…
In fact, Jesus said there is only one case where we should know true fear:
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
Now that is an awful and awe-filled thing to consider…