“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18
I have to admit that when I think of love, fear is not the first thing that comes to mind. The word “love” usually brings up the warm, cuddly feelings of being accepted for who we are and being with someone who we enjoy. It’s those good feelings we have toward someone else. Where’s the fear in that? It’s important to realize what type of love is being discussed. In the New Testament, there are three words for our one English word, “love.” One of the words is eros. When you look at that word, you can see where the word “erotic” came from. This word refers to a sexual type of love. Then there’s phileo, which is a brotherly love. Both of those words are full of feelings. But the word used here is neither of those.
Agape, the word used in this verse, has a different meaning. The definition of agape is “the active love of God for his Son and his people and the active love his people have for God, each other, and even their enemies.” Did you catch that? It’s active. The definition says absolutely nothing about feelings. It’s what we do. It refers to how we treat others, whether it’s those in our families, strangers, or even our enemies. Agape is a choice we make.
How can fear be a part of this? Or rather, how can fear be a barrier to agape? There are several ways but one is when we are afraid of what others will think. Have you ever thought you should do something for someone but are afraid others will think you shouldn’t? Or maybe you’re afraid of being rejected by the person you’re trying to help. Perhaps you’re afraid that if you give to someone else, you won’t have enough left for yourself. This verse mentions punishment. Each of these examples is a form of punishment. This is basically saying that when we fear being punished for our actions, we’re choosing to allow that fear to block agape. But when God’s agape in you is matured, the desire to actively love others will take that fear and toss it out on its ear.
This doesn’t mean that fear won’t creep in. It means that it won’t stay. We may feel the beginnings of fear, but when we choose to actively love God and others, we don’t listen to those voices of fear. Rather, we recognize that those fears are simply the enemy’s pitiful attempt to keep us from experiencing God’s active love. Worse, it’s his attempt to stop God’s active love from being spread around the world through us. But when we ignore that fear and choose to love anyway, we’ll see that fear slink out of our hearts. Then we’ll find ourselves rejoicing in the freedom we have to love fully and completely. That’s when we experience the fullness of God’s perfect love in us and our joy will be full.