Loving Out The Fear
by Jon Walker
All of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy
toward each other, loving one another with tender
hearts and humble minds. (1 Peter 3:8 NLT)
God enables us to love the fear out of one another.
We drive fear from our families and friends by loving
one another so supportively that every one feels safe
inside the group. (1 John 4:18) This safety allows us
to bring our humanity into the open, including all our
pain and joy, our ups and downs, our victories and
defeats.
It means you give to others the same uncommon safety
Christ gives you – to be real, to be sad, to be messed
up and confused, yet to be loved.
God challenges us to create a Christ-community where
we love like our lives depend upon it (1 Peter 1:22)
and can each “live and move and have our being.” (Acts
17:28)
We’re to weep together and celebrate together, caring
for each other equally (1 Corinthians 12:25-26) as we
comfort and confront, warm and warn, cherish and
challenge, within an atmosphere of supportive safety.
Loving the fear out of each other requires that we
develop:
Tender hearts – We give support to each other because
God gives us support, and we’re to encourage others
with the encouragement we receive from him. (2
Corinthians 1:4) In the New Testament, the word
‘support’ can literally mean “to increase one
another’s potential.” (Romans 14:19 NJB) We strengthen
one another by extending love, instead of fostering
fear, and we do that by offering relationships that
are safe and sympathetic.
Humble minds -True humility focuses on the worth of
others. We understand our value in Christ, and we
understand that God shapes each of us for a unique
purpose.
Godly eyes – Loving the fear out of our family and
friends – in fact, loving the fear out of the world –
means we see others for what they can be, not for what
they appear to be now. Jesus called Peter a rock when
the fisherman was still acting on impulse (Matt.
16:18), and God called Gideon a mighty man of courage
when he was hiding from the enemy among piles of
grain. (Judges 6:11-12) God calls us to encourage and
affirm each other (1 Thessalonians 5:11), seeing those
around us in terms of their purpose and mission in
life.
What does this mean?
· God enables us to love the fear out of one another.
You can love the fear out of others, and you can allow
the fear to be loved out of you.
· We exhibit tender hearts when we say to one another:
§ It’s OK to have a bad day.
§ It’s OK to be tired.
§ It’s OK to admit your mistakes.
§ It’s OK to say your marriage is failing.
§ It’s OK to confess your addiction.
§ It’s OK to share you’re scared.
§ It’s OK to want a day away from your toddler.
§ It’s OK to grieve a loss.
§ It’s OK to doubt, to be confused, to cry.
· We exhibit humble minds when we say to one another:
§ It’s OK to be happy you got a new car.
§ It’s OK to celebrate that you got a huge raise.
§ It’s OK to joyfully tell us you lost 17 pounds.
§ It’s OK to say you won the sales competition.
§ It’s OK to shout “Hallelujah!” because God’s
presence in your life is so good.
§ It’s OK to tell us these things because we will be
as happy for you as if these blessings had come to us,
and we will join you in hearty celebration.
© 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.
Pastor Jon Walker is a writer for
www.GraceCreates.com.