Well, that’s not good. That means I’m not perfected in love, I thought when I realized I was bracing myself for God’s leadership. I wasn’t positioning myself to hear and follow. I was bracing myself because I was afraid of what he might say. I immediately prayed to be perfected in love and went to the Bible for wisdom. During some time set apart to listen to Jesus, I asked him to show me what being perfected in love looks like. For the next few hours, I encountered the kindness of the Lord as he walked me through his Word and gave me some pictures to search out. By the end of our time, I felt like I was on different footing from where I began.
I’d like to share some of the highlights with you for the next few posts. I’m not claiming to be perfect at love or following—far from it. But I pray that we all will be so we can be perfected in following. Let’s Start with 1 John 4.
Read this passage. I know it’s long, but take your time and consider what John is saying to us.
1 John 4:7-21
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
I want to acknowledge the context before anything else. This passage culminates in brotherly love and unity. But the path to brotherly love begins with knowing how God loves us so we can love him and others in the same way.
John lays the foundation for being perfected in love by reviewing the Gospel. The Father sent the Son, and the Son is the savior of the world. When we confess Jesus as our savior, we abide in God. How do we know that we are abiding in him and him in us? Because God has given us his Spirit.
To abide in God is to know his love for us and for others. That is a mature or maturing state. It is love being perfected in us. If we are not abiding, we cannot love God or our brothers.
With this premise, let’s look at four results of being perfected in love, starting today with abiding unto maturity.
NO. 1 — Being Perfected in Love is Abiding unto Maturity
Here is vs 16-17 in a different translation to help break familiarity.
God is love; and those who remain in this love remain united with God, and God remains united with them. Here is how love has been brought to maturity with us: as the Messiah is, so are we in the world. This gives us confidence for the Day of Judgment. (CJB)
As new creations in Christ, with our eternal destination secure, we are on a lifelong journey of maturing in Christ the same way a healthy baby grows and learns from day one. This maturity can only happen as we remain in Christ. Abiding in Christ and he in us is the unfolding of love in our lives, both receiving and giving. This love is what annihilates fear. God is love, and that is what love does.
To be completely rid of fear is to be on the other side of eternity. However, we are without excuse for maturing while we are on earth. At no point do we stop abiding or learning from Jesus. That’s an open door for fear. I would even suggest that if we stop learning, become unwilling to learn, or grow bored with abiding in him daily, we jeopardize following Jesus altogether. The themes of endurance, faithfulness, and steadfastness are throughout the Bible for a reason. We have to embrace them.
In our continual journey of maturing, we will face fear. To say we won’t experience it misses the point. The point is that when we discern fear’s presence, we remember that we are abiding in God, and he in us. Remembering this profound truth is a mark of maturity, and it comes with the ability to call fear out when it raises its ugly head, “Cease! I’m abiding in Christ. You have no place here.”
Recap. Being perfected in love is to abide in Christ unto maturity in Christ, and it will look like love. Love doesn’t allow fear any space, which frees us to remain in Christ, to follow him, and to love like him.
Read the whole series in Vigilance Quarter 2. Download the free PDF HERE
Brave Sparrow 