Perfect Love

Most heartbroken people adopt the view that there comes a time when love becomes pointless especially after risking it all countless times only to lose everything in the end.

So they become fearful and somewhat skeptical of loving someone again, hoping to finally find their true love, and end up being deceived due to their vulnerability which develops through desperation.

Some people close themselves off completely from love because they had one or multiple bad experiences with the wrong people.

But I would like to encourage you to open yourselves still for love, only you would find that there is a more consistent, fulfilling, and genuine love than what anyone else can give us and that is the love that Jesus has for us.

I remember that, before I became a Christian, I had this struggle wherein I searched for love in the wrong places and ended up being in a worse position than I originally was because I was in constant fear of uncertainty, of heartbreak, of failure, and of what other people might think of me. I was living in this fear for quite some time and it escalated to such a point that I went out of control.

Thankfully, by the grace of God, He was able to take me out of that bondage and free me from my fears and show me true love - the kind of love relying on the principle of giving without expecting anything in return. This selfless love that Jesus showed me broke the barriers between me and my parents. It put an end to the wrong habits that I did and slowly but surely, I started to have peace and live with ease.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 1 John 4:18 which says:

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."

This verse may be the basis to say that fear is the opposite of love since the verse states that fear is absent when we love because perfect love casts out or vanquishes fear. At the time before I became Christian, I was so fearful and filled with worries.

To tell you the truth, before I met Jesus, I was afraid to be alone in the dark. Nightmares terrified me. But when I received Jesus into my life, all my fears were wiped away.

Although, that did not mean I had no problems in my life anymore but simply I had someone, Jesus, to hold on to and to carry me through the problems and to give me courage during those times when my circumstances seem to overwhelm me.

Jesus became my Rock. He became my Warrior and Savior fighting on my side against all the enemy's forces. Jesus is my Refuge who protects me. Jesus is my Light who shines through the darkness and gives me comfort.

The verse I mentioned above is a passage of Scripture that I have personally been able to testify to be true and valid when you believe what it declares and claim God's promise that He will cast out all fear through His perfect love that we have in Jesus.

To me, this is very important because war is being waged every day between the spiritual forces present in the world. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:12 that "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

We need to be strong and courageous as God had commanded Joshua when he was to take over the leadership of the Israelites. We need to abide in Jesus and to lean on His perfect love for us because His love protects us from fear and because He loves us, we have security and assurance that nothing can touch us and nothing can snatch us out from His hand which John 10:28-30 speaks of.

I pray that we may come to know God's perfect love for us even more and realize how much He has done to reconcile us to Him and to save us from death and sin.

I hope that, in knowing God's love, we would have a deeper love for God and that our love for Him will continue to grow as we mature spiritually during the journey of our Christian life. I hope that we find courage in God's love for us to face whatever problems we may be struggling in right now.

God Bless!