If we are in Christ, we have the unfailing love of God, and we need not be shaped or defined by our fears ever again. It doesn’t mean we’ve lost touch with the Spirit, who works to comfort us and assure us of our place in God’s family. As mortal, sinful people we will still be afraid, but that doesn’t mean we’ve lost sight of God’s love for us in Christ. It doesn’t mask fear or the consequences for our actions, and it doesn’t make us fools by stealing our left-brain logic. If our love for a spouse, a child, or a friend can overcome our fears, what can this perfect love from God do? It drives out fear (v.18). We love because we are loved, marked as God’s family by two things: professing Jesus as Lord of our lives, and this perfect love from God, who is love (1John 4:16). As children of God, our acts of love are because of His Perfect love. It is the love that gives us the assurance of our place as His children and our freedom from His judgment. It is the love that sent the Holy Spirit to be our guide. It is perfect love because it is God’s love, the love that moved Him to give up His Son to make us His own children. There is a love that supersedes all that, though: the love that marks us as followers of Jesus. It is incredibly powerful-whether the love of a woman, a parent’s love for a child, or a best friend’s loyal love. It enables us to do amazing, sometimes idiotic, things.
It is the stuff of storybooks and Hollywood. As a sweating Meatloaf (the singer, not the potluck dish) once belted out, people will “do anything for love.” We are fools for love, risking life and limb and bank account for it.
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