PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR

1. Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 

a) Our heavenly Father loves us so much that He will not give up on us. Why?

@1. Because His love is unfailing .

Psalm 36:5-6 

Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.

@2. Because His love pursues us.

1 Corinthians 13:7

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

@3. Because His love never grows tired of our imperfections and flaws.

b) Where does fear come from? 

@1. For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7). We have been given control over our thoughts and fears.

@2. But Satan is the one who invites us into fear. 

@3. In Genesis 3, it talks about how the serpent (Satan), deceives Eve into eating the fruit off the tree of good and evil. As soon as she and her husband Adam ate the fruit, they saw that they were naked. They quickly began to sew fig leaves together because of the shame of being naked. And when they heard God walking in the garden, they hid. 

c) Why do we fear?

@1. We fear because we forget that God made us with His love. His loves drives, pushes, and casts away all of our tormenting thoughts and fears. For fear has to do with punishment.

@2. Do we fear? Do we fear death because we are not ready to meet the Lord? If fear has overtaken you, then you know for sure that you are not in the position of readiness for there is absence of fear in perfect love.

d) What then is perfect love? What does perfect love do?

@1. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them for God is love. This is how love is made complete among us. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

@2. The word perfect is meant to be complete in this context.

e) Call to God and He will answer (Psalm 107:6). Live in God's love and let His love rule and be sovereign over your life so that fear will forever be cast away.