"Perfect love casteth out fear" 1 John 4:18
What exactly is perfect love? Is it 'true love' as in fairy tales? Is it the love spouses have for each other? There's only one person capable of giving perfect love, God. He has such perfect love, that He sent down His son to die for us. He has such perfect love, that He made us. He has such perfect love, that He added all of the little details in our world, that make up so much. Imagine the world without trees swaying in the breeze, buzzing insects, curious animals, bright colorful leaves. Details may seem small, but they make up so much of our world! A few years ago, I volunteered at a homeless shelter. All I had was a small part, serving food to the homeless, but afterwards we got time to talk to the people. I was instantly drawn to a certain table, as the man had a few colored pencils, an eraser, and an opened sketch pad sprawled out on the table. I couldn't resist watching him as he drew someone in my youth group. His picture as a whole, was breathtaking! Every strand of hair was realistic! I talked to him after wards and asked him what was most important in his drawings. "Details, details are everything", he replied.
What if we just had the basics? Water, one type of food, only grey colors, nothing colorful or bright! But because He loved us so much, He gave us the basics, and more! Much more than we need! He wants to see us happy. And though earthly pleasures will never give true happiness, He still gave them to us. What other perfect love can their be?
Now let's look at the second part of the verse. "Perfect love casteth out fear" God is perfect love, and with Him, we have nothing to fear! Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NIV) What this verse is saying, is that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from His love. His perfect love. So if nothing can separate us from His perfect love, and perfect love casts out fear, we have nothing to fear with God on our side!
Kayla Joy
