A friend recently sent me one of those “forward this, it’s amazing” e-mail chain letters that I usually ignore–but not this time. It was a request to send the piece of Scripture that was top of mind for you to one person, and then forward the original friend’s name and yours to twenty other friends.
I didn’t have to think twice about what Scripture to send, though I did have to check to get
the proper citation from 1 John (it’s Chapter 4:18, by the way):
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.
It’s taken me a long time to separate fear from love. Fear that I’ll do something that will drive away the one I love. Fear that I will turn away (and on occasion, have turned away) for silly, inconsequential reasons from people who love me. Judging and loving for a long time were inextricably linked in my mind.
The idea that God loves me, no matter what I do or say or think, was mind blowing. The idea that he delights when I move closer to him and is sorrowful when I err but nonetheless continues to love me is an immense comfort… and presents an immense challenge. For if he can love me that way, so must I love his other children thus: without fear, and without any expectation they will love me back.
I don’t know if I’ll get Scripture from any friends of my friends as a result of the e-mail. But then, I complied without any expectation that I would. It was gift enough to spend some quality time again with 1 John 4:18… and with 1 John 4:19:
We love because he first loved us.
Amen.
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Amen.