How many verses can you think of regarding love?

How about fear?

1 John 4:18
¹⁸There 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.

What affect do those references have on your interpretation of this verse? How do the two work together?

While there is only one true love described in the Bible, there are different kinds of fear. The fear of God being one of reverence, while fear of evils in our world or fear of death are emotions that result from uncertainty toward dangers and the unknown. The apostle John wants us to know through this verse that in God’s perfect love we can find a blessed assurance that no problem or situation is too great for Him to handle.

Romans 8:15
¹⁵For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Although fear and worry will come at times, our adoption as sons of God through the sacrifice of Christ serves to show us that our Heavenly Father cares for us and will see us through our troubles. We just have to believe in and on His ability to take care of us.

Matthew 6:27
²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

1 Corinthians 10:13
¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Trust the One who is the very definition of love (1 John 4:8). In Him, fear has no place.

Bible Study Goes Green

Hope
1 Peter 1:13-16
¹³Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

How do you hope?

It is a conscious choice to believe something is going to happen. We should place our belief in Christ’s grace and the ability of that grace to change us into a holy being, in His image.

God would not expect us to be holy if it were not a possible ambition.

1 Peter 1:17-21
¹⁷Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. ¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

How do we “live as strangers?”

Each day we should strive to live apart from the ways of this world to show the love and ways of Christ to others. We should let the power of a God who raised Himself from the dead guide us and strengthen us in our everyday lives.

1 Peter 1:22-25
²²Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴For,
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
²⁵but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

Do you love your brothers and sisters in this world sincerely?

Let Christ’s love show through you, because we know that on our own we are easily pushed to do things we will later regret in anger.

1 Peter 2:1-6
¹Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. ²Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
⁴As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”

We may deal with rejection, but there’s more!

1 Peter 2:7-10
⁷Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,[b]”[c] 8and,
“A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”[d] They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

We are chosen by God. He has plans for us that we cannot begin to imagine, and His desire is to show us His plan as it unfolds in our lives.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12
⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. ¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

2 Corinthians 5:1-21
¹Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ²Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, ³because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
¹¹Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. ¹²We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. ¹³If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
¹⁶So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

There is more to us as human beings than what’s visible. We are endued with gifts from God that He is eager to reveal in us.

As holy and chosen children of God, we have a mission to reach out to those around us. The promises He has for us are also for all mankind. You can be a witness for His Kingdom and make a difference, possibly even a difference no one but you can make.

Do not judge, but let the unfailing love of Christ guide you as you reach out to your world. Be Christ’s hands extended. Receive this comfort from others when it is offered. We all need more of God’s love and grace, and we should never forget our own need amidst efforts to give that love to others.

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Through what we’ve been given, we are charged to reach out to our world in a ministry of reconciling the lost back to their Creator. Actively concentrate each day on making the best of every situation and living as God would want you to live. When things in life challenge you to either react badly or show the love of Christ, remember the price He paid for you and share His gifts with others.

You are designed for eternity. Live with that destination in mind.