Love Casts Out Fear!
What is love? God is Love! In the Epistle reading today, John teaches us about God’s perfect love. John tells us that God will love us if we love Him and if we love each other. And we all claim to love God and each other, but what does that really mean? And do we love with the kind of love God is asking from us?
Love is not as simple as: I love you or I don’t love you. In today’s society, the word love is sometimes used way too freely, but at the same time, it is not used nearly enough. With all the technology available to us, words are often used without there being feeling behind them. People used to meet face-to-face and had intimate conversations, showing each other their feelings. Two people would fall in love at first glance, or over months or years of anxiously awaiting the next moment they could be together. Today, we just call, text, tweet, IM, and like or comment on posts. It is so much easier to text “I love you” to someone than it is to say it in person. The opposite is also very true. It is so much easier to join in the hate and negativity that exists in social media than if we had to confront others in person. Entire relationships can begin and end without two people ever meeting face-to-face. And conflicts can escalate out of control by just typing words on a page. We need to put meaning back into the words we type and say. Just saying “I love you” and “I love God” is not enough. We need to mean it. We need to show it.
God tells us to love unconditionally. If our love is pure and perfect, then we have nothing to fear. We show our love of God by loving one another. We show God’s love to others with our faith and prayer, and through our hospitality and charity. We show love with our encouragement and hope for others. And we must forgive, because there is no place for hate in God’s perfect love. Perfect love casts out all fear, despair and pride. Do not be afraid to open your heart to true perfect love. When you love God and love each other unconditionally, you will have nothing to fear because God will love and forgive you.