“There is no fear in love,but perfect love drives out fear.” 1 John 4 “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” Mark 6
What is fear? What does it do to me? What kinds of fear do I have? These are essential questions I have to ask myself as I enter into a new year, a year of unprecedented fears that center around the pandemic but which bring out so many other fears that abound in our lives. Maybe the best definition of fear is the sense we have that we are falling, we are failing, out of control. Fear debilitates, it damages our peace, our ability to face challenges with courage, and our ability to love. Like what? A fear that bad experiences will be repeated: better not try; a fear of the future; a fear of being hurt again; a fear of the unknown. And the longer fear holds on to us the deeper it goes.
The opposite of fear is freedom – a flexibility, a courage to be bold, to take reasonable risks that we never would have taken before. We become less guarded and defensive, yes, even vulnerable. We hear better, see better, and experience life more fully, more at peace within ourselves and in our world. John urges us to love, because God is love, inviting us to remain in God's love and to let God remain in us. He states the obvious, which is so difficult to let deep inside of us. "Since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another."We can see the tragic results when we try to love God and not love our neighbor. Our credibility as witnesses of God's love goes up in smoke. At the root of our struggle to love others is our fear.
God's love is un-conditional. God doesn't love us only when, we are good. God loves us because God is God and always wants to help us be whole and holy, to be free and loving. That’s how God's love works. We let ourselves experience His perfect love, and fears lessen. We are liberated, empowered with courage to love others. Our task is to be open to that love, choosing to live in His love and to let Him drive out our fear. Only then will we be more centered, ready to calm the stormy seas we are facing, with the courage that brings freedom. We do know he is with us always. Whatever the fear, Jesus is there, "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!"