I came across a few passages from 1 John today that give me even more motivation to love.

• 1 John 2:9 – Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
• 1 John 3:14 – We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
• 1 John 4:7-8 – Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

It seems that there’s always this social dimension to God’s love. To love God and to be loved by God means to love others. And, I suppose, to be loved by others. I think I have a problem with both of those, but the second one is probably more difficult. Sure, there are people in my life that are awfully tough to love. But I usually find it easier to love them than to allow them to love me. What I mean by that is I have a hard time letting people get close enough to me that they can love me. I like to keep people at arm’s length. So there’s this dissonance that I experience that comes out of fear.

And then I come across a verse like this one that totally wrecks me:

1 John 4:16, 18 – God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. There is no fear in love.

This runs counter to every one of my instincts. I guess I have too much of my father in me. Alton Bybee made sure that his son would never be a gullible one. One of the fundamental lessons I learned from my Dad was to never trust anyone. Always be skeptical. People are out to get you. If you don’t look out for yourself, nobody will. I have to say, these lessons have served me well these 31 years, especially in light of my father’s early death.

But there it is, staring at me on the pages of Holy Scripture: There is no fear in love. I love what Peterson does with this verse:

There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

If I’m serious about the love of Christ becoming my primary motivation for everything, then I’m going to have to abandon this fear stuff. I don’t suppose I fear death or judgment quite like I should, but I fear betrayal. I fear being taken advantage of. I fear vulnerability. But I think that love requires putting yourself out there. It takes great courage to do something truly courageous. And love is the most courageous way of all.

So I need to work on this no fear thing. I may have to seek some outside help on this one.