"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out all fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."
1 John 4:18
Went Visiting Teaching last night, and in the course of our conversation we talked about favorite scriptures. This was one of the ones that was brought up. I think it is interesting... it is basically saying that love equals confidence, right? I find that to be true in several ways. We can see it even in interpersonal relationships. If we have a really good friend or significant other around, we face the world with a little more boldness... no underlying fear of non-acceptance, or rejection, because we have some back-up. Someone who we KNOW is on our side. When we love, and when we are loved, it drives out uncertainty, fear, and a lot of things... we're confident in that area. ... It works with Job interviews too. If we love a subject or a task, even if we are scared to death... focusing on that topic or task, we can talk animatedly and well about why we love it, what we love about it... it skips past the conversational awkwardness, and gets right to what you love to do. With God, it seems like all of those things can only get better... knowing we are loved by God, knowing how much we love God, and focusing on Godly things... these all help us avoid fear, uncertainty, and those gaping black holes we find within ourselves sometimes. I really think that, no matter how scary those are sometimes, this scripture gives us an idea of how to fill them. Find something to love. A hobby, a person, a cause... those things definitely fill us up, and God creates a limit, so the pits of despair are no longer bottomless... and we can find hope, and love, where before there was a *lot* of fear, and a lot of emptiness. Today, let's work on loving the things and people around us. Let's work on accepting love as well... and as we learn to love the things and people around us, and accept love in return, our relationship with God will improve too, which is great, since he basically IS love, and we can't get more confident than when he is on our side. :)
1 John 4:18
Went Visiting Teaching last night, and in the course of our conversation we talked about favorite scriptures. This was one of the ones that was brought up. I think it is interesting... it is basically saying that love equals confidence, right? I find that to be true in several ways. We can see it even in interpersonal relationships. If we have a really good friend or significant other around, we face the world with a little more boldness... no underlying fear of non-acceptance, or rejection, because we have some back-up. Someone who we KNOW is on our side. When we love, and when we are loved, it drives out uncertainty, fear, and a lot of things... we're confident in that area. ... It works with Job interviews too. If we love a subject or a task, even if we are scared to death... focusing on that topic or task, we can talk animatedly and well about why we love it, what we love about it... it skips past the conversational awkwardness, and gets right to what you love to do. With God, it seems like all of those things can only get better... knowing we are loved by God, knowing how much we love God, and focusing on Godly things... these all help us avoid fear, uncertainty, and those gaping black holes we find within ourselves sometimes. I really think that, no matter how scary those are sometimes, this scripture gives us an idea of how to fill them. Find something to love. A hobby, a person, a cause... those things definitely fill us up, and God creates a limit, so the pits of despair are no longer bottomless... and we can find hope, and love, where before there was a *lot* of fear, and a lot of emptiness. Today, let's work on loving the things and people around us. Let's work on accepting love as well... and as we learn to love the things and people around us, and accept love in return, our relationship with God will improve too, which is great, since he basically IS love, and we can't get more confident than when he is on our side. :)
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