Love Slows DownSample

Perfect Love Drives Out Fear

We were made for the security, connection, and control/empowerment found in God’s love. When sin separated Adam and Eve from that love, they immediately felt fear. And we’ve all been feeling fear ever since. Fear has lots of faces. It appears as anxiety, nervousness, or worry. Sometimes it’s more subtle, showing up as indecision or wanting to check out or numbing ourselves. All fear is connected to a deep feeling of concern that we may not get the security, connection, or control we need.

Jesus restored our direct connection to God’s love, so we don’t have to be afraid anymore. We just have to seek Him and His love. Our spouse, kids, job, home, who we know, and what we have will never bring the perfect security, connection, and control we want. Only God can do that. When we try to get those needs met anywhere apart from Him it will always lead to anxiety and worry. 

Fear is a strong and powerful emotion. It can create all sorts of responses in our minds and bodies. Sometimes we know our fear is irrational, but because it’s a strong emotion we can’t just drive it out with facts or logic. We have to drive it out with something stronger. God's love is stronger than any fear we will ever experience. God’s perfect love drives out fear. 

One of the amazing things about God's love is that, often times, the best way to experience God’s love is to go out and love others—right in the middle of your fear. Love the fear out of yourself and others! Go serve someone who is in need, even if you’re afraid. When you begin to experience God’s love in action, flowing through you, it will drive out the fear. 

Fear doesn’t just go away on its own. Fear grows in the dark. It shrinks our world. The only way to beat fear is to voluntarily expose yourself to the thing you fear in small doses. Take small steps of faith (with wisdom) toward the thing you fear. When God sustains you in each step it will build more faith to move forward. But you have to keep moving forward with courage. Just do it afraid, knowing that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39).

Be courageous today. God’s love is the source of the security, connection, and control you are looking for. Express that love to others. Live in that love.