Day 3 of 3 • This day’s reading

Devotional

1 John 4:18 says: “There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid because fear has to do with punishment.”

When we walk with God, we walk in a perfect love. God’s love does not condemn. No matter how unclean we see ourselves, or how much we’ve sinned against Him, His love for us remains pure. Therefore, we need not fear or walk in fear that God is angry with us and will cancel us, the same way today’s cancel culture is prone to. When we go through the hard seasons of our lives, in the wilderness, and in a season of drought, we need to hold on to God’s promise of unconditional love. We need to be confident in this love and not be fearful. We need to abide in God, so He can abide in us. This way, we’ll be able to experience His perfect love for us.

Strengthening our relationship with God goes a long way in alleviating fear. Doing this lets us have the full understanding of who we are in Christ. As a result, we become aware that there’s nothing more or less we need to do attain God’s love. We become aware that nothing can separate us from His love.

God loves us fully and completely and wants to be with us. So, in order to experience His presence and fullness, we need to let go of the fears we have—the fear of not measuring up, the fear of not being enough, the fear of failure, the fear of being punished for what we’ve done and ridiculed for who we are. An encounter with God means His perfect love will drive out all these forms of fear and insecurities. His love builds confidence in us. Because of this, we able to show up in the world the way He has designed us to. We are able to love others without fear.

As we journey on to be more Christ like, may we continue to spend time in the word, so we may know how to love like Jesus. In the spaces we’ve been placed, may we lead and serve like Jesus did. May we continuously pray that His perfect love infiltrate our souls and drive out fear, anxiety, and insecurities. May we remain secure and grounded in His love, now and forever more.

Today, reflect on how you will explore love as defined by Christ. Think about the areas of your life which you need to bask in His love so that you do not walk in fear.

May God’s love empower you to live and love by design.