Love casts out fear
The apostle of love, again
John knew that fear and love cannot share a heart for long; one drives out the other. And he is specific about the fear he means — the fear that has to do with punishment, the cringing dread that God is mainly disappointed in us and keeping a record for the reckoning. That kind of fear, John says, is a sign that love has not yet finished its work in us.
There is no fear in love, he writes; perfect love casts out fear. The word for perfect means complete, matured, fully grown. As the knowledge of God's love grows up in a person, the cringing fear shrinks and is finally pushed out the door. You cannot dread someone you are sure adores you.
The cure for our fear of God, then, is not to try harder to stop being afraid. It is to be loved more deeply — to let the perfect love of the Father grow large enough in us that there is simply no room left for terror.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.”
— John, the apostle — 1 John 4:18 (WEB)
Let the Father's perfect love grow large enough in you that the cringing fear of punishment is pushed out.
“For God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control.”
Much of our devotion is secretly powered by fear — of judgment, of falling short, of God's patience running out — and we mistake the cringing for humility. The interior work is to recognize fear-based religion for the immature love it is, and to address it not by trying harder but by letting the certainty of God's love deepen, since punishment already fell on Christ and there is no condemnation left for his children.
Notice this week where fear, not love, is driving your relationship with God — anxious performance, dread of his disappointment. Each time, preach the gospel to the fear: the punishment fell on Christ; what is left for me is love.
Fear is a clever counterfeit of devotion; it keeps you cringing before a God you imagine mostly disappointed, and calls the cringing humility. But perfect love has nothing to do with punishment — that fell on Christ — and a child secure in the Father's love has no terror left for fear to feed on.
Much of the religion we construct runs on fear — fear of judgment, fear of falling short, fear that God's patience with us is nearly used up. It can look like devotion, but it is really the cringing of a servant who is not sure of his master. John says that kind of fear is evidence not of humility but of a love that has not yet matured in us.
The gospel does not address our fear by lowering God's standards; it addresses it by raising our certainty of his love. Punishment fell on Christ; what is left for us is a Father whose perfect love has nothing to do with condemnation. Where is fear still quietly running your relationship with God — and what would it take to let his love grow large enough to push it out?
- Is my relationship with God driven more by fear or by love?
- Do I mistake cringing fear for humility?
- What would it take to let his love grow large enough to push my fear out?
Father, let your perfect love cast out my fear. I receive that the punishment fell on Christ, and there is no condemnation left for me. Amen.