Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, July 16, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Fear is insidious, pervasive, and, unfortunately, inevitable. I once had a fellow in my recovery program tell me that if I was still having fears, it meant I really didn’t have a higher power. In the moment, I was devastated. After processing it with other fellows, I was able to call bulls--- on him. In spite of what the writer of 1 John says here, I believe that we are still fully the reflection of God’s perfect love in the world even if we still have fears.
What matters isn’t the fact that we experience fear, but how we respond to those fears. Do we let them drive us to acting out against others in some futile obsession with obtaining total security? Do we let them keep us from standing up for others in need? Do we let them make us hide in our own cocoons rather than loving fully in ways that will uplift us as much as those we share that love with? Working to overcome our fears is working to express God’s perfected love in us with the world. It is hard work, but it is good work.
What fears hold me back from living fully into God’s call to love?
