No fear in love

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18
Here’s a question for all of us: are we afraid of God, or do we rest in assurance that He loves us? Many people know more about God’s judgement than His love. We think He is quick to judge and reluctant to show love to us; the reality is the complete reverse. God waits as long as He possibly can before He brings judgement. And He is always ready to forgive our sins, as soon as we repent and turn to Him. He showed us love by allowing His only Son to die on the cross in our place, before we even acknowledged Him (Rom. 5:8). Eight times in the Scriptures we read that God is “slow to anger, abounding in love” (Ex. 34:6, Num. 14:18, Neh. 9:17, Ps. 86:15, Ps. 103:8, Ps. 145:8, Joel 2:13, Jon. 4:2).
It is right to fear God, to respect Him and hold Him in awe. But if we are in Christ, we do not need to be afraid of God, that He will strike us down or punish us without hope of restoration. The more certain we are of God’s love for us, the less fear we will have in life – of God or of anything else. God’s love is complete and perfect, and when our lives are full of it there is no room for fear.