We hear and read so many songs and stories about love, so one would think we've know more about it than we do. We haven't learned much about the real Love, the Love of God or about God Himself. We've measured God's love by the natural love of man, which is based more on emotions than on and in the Spirit.
And, because we've opened our hearts to allow others in and were hurt, we've closed the door to love in our lives. We might crack the door and allow just a little love to enter into our heart, but we haven't opened the door wide to love. Our Heavenly Father simply wishes for us to open the door of our heart (or spirit) and allow His fullness to enter. When all is said and done and we are with our Father in heaven, we will fully understand God's great Love.
We are fearful of those who can hurt us as long a we remain protective of our hearts against love. We won't allow others to love us and because of this, we cannot fully love anyone else. This is what the world is looking for in Christianity and what Christianity is looking for in God. We wait, but it is already done if we will trust in the truth of God's Spirit.
We've been hurt by others in the natural who say they love us. There are those we are supposed to love, but we couldn't or wouldn't love them like we should. We've been afraid to trust love from many people for various reasons. This isn't to say that love hasn't had any impact on this world, because it has. God's Love is never in short supply, but has been "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit." It's not that love hasn't accomplished what He came to do, but not in its fullest.
God loves us all with everything He is and has shown His Love by His great gift of salvation, but it cannot be completed in us until we yield to its fullest form. 1John 4:18 (Amplified) says, "There is no fear in love (dread does not exist) but full grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and (so) he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love (is not yet grown into love's complete perfection)."
Although we read the Word and agree with it, most of us haven't reached this "full maturity" of love. We all probably know some of God's people who are still "fearful of punishment" and have "terror" concerning their walk with Him. We're still afraid He is searching for reasons to punish us for our mistakes and failures. We know we're not perfect and have made mistakes, so we're fearful of punishment. I'm not saying this to excuse our mistakes or sins, but we should realize how great His love is that it covers all. Are there times in our lives we believe we should be and deserve to be punished? The answer is, Yes! But, because we don't know the fullness of His love and power of His love, we walk in fear.
Love declares to us in Isaiah 53:4 and 11 (Amplified) saying, "Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains (of punishment), yet we (ignorantly) considered Him stricken and smitten and afflicted by God (as if with leprosy)." Verse 11 says, "He shall see (the fruit) of the travail of His soul and be satisfied; by His knowledge of Himself (which He possesses and imparts to others) shall my (uncomprimisingly) Righteous One, My servant, justify many and make many righteous (upright and in right standing with God) for He shall bear their iniquities and their guilt (with the consequences, says the Lord)."
When I speak about being afraid to love, I speaking about letting ourselves be loved as well. When we don't trust someone enought to accept their love, we still walk in the "fear of punishment" John spoke about.
The Word says that Jesus didn't only take our sins, but our punishment too. We seem eager to accept the forgiveness of sin (to a certain extent), but not the punishment part. We keep waiting for the other shoe to fall. Do we always feel like we're righteous in Him? No. If we only walk in truth when we feel it, then we're still bound by our own uncertain love and aren't trusting in the God of Love or the Love of God!
This is the place we've been afraid to love in. We can't fully allow love into our hearts if we cannot trust the One Whom we think loves us. There are so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ who still believe that punishment is part of God's love. We don't seem to trust or have faith enough in love to believe Isaiah 53 which says He bore our punishment. If we've afraid to love God to this point, then it's because we really don't know God and never did. 1John 4:8 (Amplified) tells us that, "He who does not love has not become acquainted with God (does not and never did know Him) For God is love."
This scripture simply says that when you really come to know God, He expels all fear completely from your life. When we don't trust His love in the sacrifice of Jesus to take our place, then we remain bound under the Law with the sacrifice of bulls and goats. People could live free of fear and punishment, in the full, for a year under the Law. Shouldn't the Blood of our Lamb Jesus be that powerful in our lives?
When we don;t allow His love to completely remove our fear and love us fully, how can we possibly love and live in love with one another? "As we sow...also shall we readp." If we cannot allow love and trust to be sown in our own hearts without fear, then how can we expect to be able to sow it into others?
God wants to love us with all His love and strength, but we won't allow Him to manifest the fullness of that love because of fear. Therefore, we don't know how to "Love one another, as I have loved you." We don't know "How He loved us."
We are afraid to let God into our hearts completely because of the fear of punishment. Read 1John 4:18 repeatedly until is expels all fear from your heart and you will come to know God not only as God, but as Father. We all call Him "Father," but not all of us know Him in the fullness of what that really means. 1John 4:18 (Amplified) says, "He who does not love has not become acquainted with God (does not and never did know Him) For God is love."
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