PERFECT LOVE

The word FEAR appears about 400 times in the King James Version of the Bible while the word LOVE appears about 310 times. If frequency of appearance was been used to determine the nature of their importance, one would conclude that it is more important to Fear than to Love. However we know that every good and perfect gift comes from above with the greatest one of all been; God’s Gift of Love to Mankind: Jesus the Christ. Never the less we are commanded to Fear God and keep His Commandments. This is not the type of fear that leaves you cringing, wanting to run and hide; but instead it is that type of fear that comes from knowing that God is Almighty and that He alone is Able. It’s the Fear that makes you want to be always in His favor, in His Company, always in His presence. It’s a Fear that is healthy to the Soul. The Scriptures tell us that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”, and we know that the Presence of the LORD is not the grounds on which Fools trod. To fear the LORD is to hate evil. It is also not possible to love evil and be in the presence of the LORD. We must fear God. It’s a Reverential Fear. It transform’s, draws and directs us to the LORD to get to know Him.

 The Scriptures tell us that we are also commanded to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; which is the first commandment and then to love our Neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12: 30-31). What then, happens to our fear of the LORD?  God is a transforming God. When we get to know Him, the only thing we can do is LOVE Him. When we come to know that He is LOVE and that He first loved us and that it is His Love that is operating in us; our fear is transformed. He turns our fear into Love. You are never afraid of the One whom you know for sure, really loves you. You learn to love Him in return. We have known and believed the love that God has to His Elect. God is love; and he that dwell’s in love dwell in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment. Because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in Love; but PERFECT LOVE cast out fear: because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us (1 John 4:16-19) with His Perfect Love. We are compelled to do the greater: to love always. Love covers all.

Friend: Christ in praying for his Disciples, prayed also for every Believer in this manner:  “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17: 20-23). Is PERFECT LOVE operating in you today?   Love you always.  

W. Bennett.

W. Bennett