When there is more love, there will inevitably be less fear. The more we believe and accept God’s love for us, the more we trust him. And the more we trust him, the less we will fear, even when life is not going the way that we want.

1. Context and backstory:
Division within the church, with people in the church teaching something other than the gospel. John returns again and again to the fruit of people’s actions, specifically how we love our Christian brothers and sisters.

2. What do these verses say:
More love = less fear. Fierce love requires an ongoing acknowledgment and release of fear.

3. What does it mean for me?
A. God calls us to fellowship locally with believers. Are you in fellowship with believers in a face-to-face way?

B. When you are in a pattern of fear, name the things that only God can handle in your life. For example: your identity can only be entrusted to God. Also: your soul, your calling, your future.

C. If our identity and calling are secure in the Lord, we can begin to love others with God’s love as the source. We don’t want to give love in order to get love.

D. “Keep yourselves from idols” What does John mean by that? We must keep our spiritual house in order. Anything that takes top priority in our hearts, when we begin to link our identity and the way that we decide if life is worth living to those things, our spiritual house is chaotic and messy.

Isaiah 42:8 says it this way: “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.” God is very inclusive in his invitation to find life in him, BUT he is very exclusive about his positioning in our hearts. He demands priority in our hearts, not for his good, but for our good.

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