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Perfect Love casts out Fear
Posted by veryheaven • 12/01/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: anxieties, believe, fear, God, love, religion, trust, veryheaven
In years past when I read this scripture, I misunderstood its meaning. I thought it was saying that if I could reach the place where I walked in perfect love toward other people, I would no longer experience fear in my own life. I diligently tried to love others, but it seemed like I always failed. I couldn’t even love them imperfectly, let alone perfectly!
I had a lot of fear in my life—fear that manifested as insecurity and mental torment of every kind. A fearful person worries and is anxious about many things, such as the past, the future, finances, what people think, etc.
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User Comments
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There is another verse which many put in opposition to it, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". But note that the fear of the Lord is the beginning , not the end of wisdom. The end of wisdom, the place where it will take you if you follow it for long enough is that "perfect love which casts out all fear". The genius of 1 John is the realisation that if we can truly have faith in (ie trust) God's absolute acceptance of us and love for us, we will not be frightened. If we are not frightened we will not be angry (fearful)- with ourselves, with other people, with God or with the world. If we are not angry we will show to others, in our words and actions, that overwhelming love with which God treats us.
thundercatt99.blogspot.com/
thundercatt99.wordpress.com/-
Wonderful response thundercatt! -
Wonderful response thundercatt!
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thundercat - compliment, i´ll recommend you to joyce meyer :-) you preparing her papers could do much good in cummincating complex themes with / to the audience! xxoooxxx veryheaven
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:D!! -
Sorry, but I think it is good to clear up that the phrase "God-fearing" does not mean being afraid of God. In this case, the appropriate definition of "fear" is "awesome reverence, great respect". It does not mean to be scared of God. Thanks! :]
patienceloveandpleasure.blogspot.com/
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Heavenly:
That's not a bad quote from the Bible
And here's the Red Panda, you may have read it before
"LOVE, has no boundaries or judgements. It embraces the totally of all things born and still unborn. It waits patiently for us to take her hand and follow her to our greatest potential, it forgives our shortcomings and speaks quietly to us when we need her most. Love creeps through our life often unnoticed but catches us as we fall. Love is our only true friend, our faithful companion that walks with us from age to age, beyond the graves.
Love is what we truly are"-
how wonderful to read and see you here again. a wonderful quote. i´ll keep
on believing.
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you are such a mastercommunicator in/of love, my dear red panda :-)
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Love is intimate. Intimacy is a crucial component of all relationships, regardless of their nature. In order to know another person, you need to fearlessly share parts of yourself. This self-revealing behavior, when reciprocated, forms an emotional bond. Over time this bond strengthens and even evolves, so that two people merge closer and closer together.
We cannot enter intimacy with another when we fear them, or we fear failure, or we fear what's inside of our "self". Unless and until, we learn to accept our "self" and love our "self" just as we are, we aren't prepared to do the inner work required to eliminate clinging to attachments and aversions that give rise to fear.
"You can awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are … and that’s alright. (They are entitled to their own views and opinions.) You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself and in the process, a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval. You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you (or didn’t do for you) and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.
You learn that people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that it’s not always about you. So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself and in the process, a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance. You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are, and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties and in the process, a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness." www.blogcatalog.com/user/shawie9877
You begin loving yourself when you stop rejecting yourself, especially on the emotional level. And when you practice self-acceptance of your feelings as they are right now, you will experience real changes in consciousness.
When you love yourself you will no longer try to juggle people or possessions in the external world in order to find inner fulfillment. You will no longer live a life focused on fearfully clinging to attachments and aversions. You will no longer look to a big guy in the sky to send in a savior to rescue you from becoming intimately acquainted with your own true nature. You find fulfillment from within, simply by accepting, without acting out, your feelings just as they are right now.
Read the full post here -> thistimethisspace.com/2008/12/03/do-you-love-yourself/-
It is so good to hear such an understanding of love from another person once in a while. :] I love your writing.
patienceloveandpleasure.blogspot.com/
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my dear thimethief, as you might remember, we share some experiences (!). and i truely adore you for your writingskills and your way to express which bridges you found to cover the gaps we have seen in front of us. wonderful.
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"Perfect love cast out fear" is only a partial rendering of I John 4:18.
The verse actually reads: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He who fears has not been perfected in love."
This verse has nothing to do with "self love" or fear of earthly circumstances. It, in context to all of John's teaching in this chapter, refers to those "hid in Jesus Christ" have no fear of His impending judgment of sin for His love has set us free from that fear!
Why? Because disciples of Jesus Christ have His love already! Thus, we have no fear of His soon coming judgment and eternal damnation of all who have rejected His love and have slandered His name in unbelief.
We should not lower the instruction of God's word to a man's understanding and application - lest we mishandle and water down the absolutes truths of the Son of God and Son of Man Himself and what He has declared of Himself... love.
Keep on studying! -
@jtokarsbr
It is so good to hear such an understanding of love from another person once in a while. :] I love your writing.
Thanks for your kind words. I appreciate them.
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