Replacing Fear with Love

“Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love drives out fear. It is punishment that makes a person fear, so love is not made perfect in the person who fears.”1 John 4:18

Think about it, "where God's love is, there is no fear."  What are the things you most fear? For me it is things like loss and abandonment. When I act on the fears, I usually lose the very thing I want. Why, because when I fear I'll loose, I hang on more tightly to controlling what I fear I am loosing.

Love is not made perfect in the one who fears because their goal becomes one of control, not love. God has given us free will. He does not choose to control us. Rather he chooses to perfect us in his love.

If you fear you are loosing something, look at the sitiuation?  Are you hanging onto it too tightly? Are you not letting it breathe? Is it being suffocated by you? Are you actually driving it away by tightening the hold?

So many relationships are destroyed by trying to control them. Jobs can be lost by trying to control instead of letting go so the employees can perform their own talents and skills. Kids turn to drugs as a way of escaping what they perceive as being controlled, yet the drugs become the controller. That happens a lot. Control becomes the controller. Think about it.

Without fear, we are free to experience what love has to offer us. It is love that leads to peace and peace leads to greater skill and productivity. So replace control with love, and you'll get what you want. Loving loosely is the key word. Then loosely replaces loosing.

Let God show the way. He loved us so much he gave his son to die on the cross for our sins. He could have stopped it. But he let go in love for the end result. So give all your control to him. He sees the end from the beginning. Just love him and let him love you you. His love will drive out all fear and you can breathe freely and live freely in peace.