Today we begin our worship with:
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.
While hate is the opposite of love, it is fear that actively opposes it. The degree to which we can love is determined by our level of fear. Many stories are told of parents overcoming fear to rescue a beloved child.
But while love is attempting to cast out (ballō) fear, fear is actively holding on to (echō) punishment. To love we must understand that we ourselves are loved and will not be punished.
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. 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.
Redeemed, we must let go of that fear of punishment, then it will be hard to punish others by withholding our love. So it is true that:
1 John 4:19b
We love because he first loved us.
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