True Love || 1 John 4:18 || Manna for the Mind #20

Welcome to Day 20 of my “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series takes a passage of scripture (typically 1-3 verses) and builds its understanding through its context and connecting scripture. Doing this helps us understand what the Bible truly teaches us. 

1 John 4:18

18        Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

Let’s talk about this perfect love. It’s a love that’s created by God. Those who love as God loves is a child of God. This love is represented by God sending Jesus as a sacrifice to take away our sins so we can have an eternal relationship with him. Our response to this loving act is to love each other since this type of love resides inside us via the Holy Spirit. We need to trust in this type of love. The more we live in God, the more this love grows within us. This love will keep away fear of condemnation and bring on a spirit of confidence.

Confused? Thought so. What you read is a summarization of 1 John 4:7-17, which represents the concept of “Love each other as I have loved you.” Let’s look at this love through a word study.

This type of love is the Greek word agape (ag-ah’-pay), which represents love, benevolence, goodwill, and esteem. It’s a type of love that centers on moral preference. It’s a type of love that comes from the soul.

More confused? I believe it. This type of love God created is complex to wrap our minds around and comprehend. We can look at it from a tangible perspective, but how can we feel it? How can we act on it? If this love gets rid of fear, then it’s something special. To understand it more, follow me to 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

4          Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant.

5          It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.

6          It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with truth [when right and truth prevail.]

7          Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things, [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].

I share with you the Amplified Bible translation because of the amount of detail it shows. Love is something that endures with patience and serenity. Love represents kindness and thoughtfulness, and it doesn’t represent jealousy or envy. It also doesn’t brag about itself and isn’t arrogant. God’s love isn’t rude or self-fulfilling. It’s not sensitive and or easily angered. It doesn’t hold a grudge. It doesn’t celebrate injustice but celebrates when what is right and true prevails. God’s love overcomes all things regardless of what happens, believes in the best of all things, stays hopeful during difficult things, and endures all things without wavering.

This love sticks around forever. God’s love is patient, peaceful, kind, and thoughtful; it celebrates right and true statements; it bears all the ups and downs of life; it looks for the best; it remains hopeful and doesn’t leave. God’s love is NOT jealous, envious, proud, arrogant, rude, egotistical, sensitive, irritable, holds grudges, or celebrates injustices. What does the love you share represent?

I’m wrapping that up here. Something to think about. Something to let the Holy Spirit guide you through. My prayer for you today is the recitation of Romans 8:15b as you call out to your heavenly Father:

Romans 8:15b

15b      Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father!”