Morning Devotional

May 17, 2005
"Without Fear" (Part 5)
    by Don Emmitte

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We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world. Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. (1 John 4:18 NLT).

Evidently, according to this verse, if we could have perfect love for God, we could get rid of all fear. So, the challenge comes in having perfect love. I thought a long time about this verse and its meaning. More than this, I thought of how we develop perfect love. How do we develop love at all for that matter?

Before I met my wife, I didn’t love her. I hope that doesn’t disappoint you, but I really didn’t even know her, so loving her was hard to do. Oh, sure, I might have had a general love for her as I hope I have for all people, but I didn’t really love her. All of us who have younger children have heard them say they “like” someone. What they mean is that they like them as friends, but it’s not going any further than that at the time. The “like” is not growing into anything else.

Over the years, I have grown to “like…like” my wife…and so much more! She has become my closest friend, my richest ally, and my surest companion. I love spending life with her. I truly do love her with all my heart. I can’t imagine life without her. I trust her completely and without any reservations. My life is centered on her. How did this love develop? It happened over time, as I got to know her, spent time with her, dated her, and we experienced life together. The saying goes that I “fell in love” with her. That love continues to develop and grow.

This helps me understand what I must do to get rid of fear in my life. I must work towards developing perfect love for Christ. I need to better get to know Him, spend time with Him, and literally date Him as we experience life together. As it was for falling in love with my wife, learning to love Christ more is a process, which can take years, but as I learn to love Him more I will find myself trusting Him more. He is trustworthy. He is reliable. He is able to meet my needs. I know He wants me to live without fear. To learn to do this, I will have to learn to love Him more. So will you.