Daily Delight
“Whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” -1 John 4:18 (NASB)
I’ve dealt with fear my whole life, from silly little fears to chronic anxiety and panic attacks. I’ve been set free from anxiety and panic but I still struggle with fear as most of us do. The verse people quote the most to help settle your fear is 1 John 4:18. However, I’ve always found myself frustrated with it.
When I was struggling with chronic anxiety and panic attacks I knew that the anecdote to fear was love. I just didn’t know how to receive God’s love in such a way that it would dispel my fears. I desperately wanted to and I was crying out for a deeper revelation of His love, but it felt like nothing was working. I didn’t know how to be perfected in love or if there was some sort of secret code I had missed out on. As I dove into the rest of the chapter, though, I found some peace.
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him and he in God. So, we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love, abides in God, and God in him.” -1 John 4:15-16 (NASB)
This verse breaks it down so simply. When we were saved, we were literally born again of God. We are in Him and He is in us. This does not change. Since He is love, we are always dwelling in love. Like a sponge in water, we soak up and become full of the nature of the environment we are in. We are in God, therefore we are full of His nature and His nature is love. We’re already abiding in love, that’s our constant state. As we abide in love we will come to know and believe even more of His love for us.
When I started living from this reality instead of trying to get to it, my anxiety and panic began to dissipate. It was already true I just had to come into agreement with it and the rest of my circumstances would come into agreement with it as well. As I realized that I already abide in love, it opened my eyes to the vastness of the love of God and I began to know more of it and explore it even more.
{photo: @mariadanielledoka}
About the Author
Sam Jones
≫ ≫ Sam is a woman with passion for first-love devotion to the Lord who uses creativity to express that devotion and draw others into the same manner of worship. She is fascinated with the God who desires relationship and union and writes openly about this grace. Sam lives in Alabama with her husband and is obsessed with her huge family, finding the perfect latte, and exploring new places.