In bed the other night my husband and I got into a discussion. Ok, it was an argument. One of those arguments that ends with you both turning to face the opposite sides of the bed, fuming.
I was crushed, and it took me awhile to fall asleep. I couldn’t get our argument out of my mind, and I was sad that we felt so disconnected.
As I laid there, I talked to God about my disappointment, and He reminded me of 1 John 4:18:
“Perfect love casts out fear.”
Suddenly I realized that we were just responding to each other in fear. Fear led to our argument, and fear made us too stubborn to let the other one have the last word.
But God. God is Love. And perfect love casts out fear. That night the Lord reminded me that I have Him, and since I have Him I have love, the most powerful force in the world.
I simply have to choose love, not fear.
According to the Bible, Love is patient, kind, unselfish, forgiving, mature, giving, faithful, truth-loving, good, trusting, and humble (I Corinthians 13).
Also, the Bible tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:16); therefore, whatever is a characteristic of God is also a characteristic of love. God is light and there is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5). God was willing to humble Himself to save us (Philippians 2). He tells us Ge is the good shepherd, and a good shepherd will leave the 99 other sheep to find the one lost sheep (Matthew 18).
Therefore, we know that these are characteristics of love. Love humbles itself. It risks rejection. It tries again and again. It cares more to serve than to be served. It does not fear what could go wrong.
Love simply gives and trusts God with the result. So my job isn’t to fear. It’s to trust and give love, even to those who don’t deserve it.
And, yes, sometimes I feel like my husband doesn’t deserve it. (I’m sure he feels the same way about me at times.) But love means I ignore fear and I give anyway.
I’d like to end with a link to of one of my favorite songs by Cory Asbury: “Reckless Love”…
thesearchforhappilyeverafter.com 