[Maximum Joy Series] Perfect LoveSample

Open the Doors of your Heart–Love Perfected

In a conference held at our church, Dr. Larry Crabb asked people to write on a piece of paper their response to this one question: “What is the single thing in your life you are most ashamed of and would be most embarrassed for others to know?” It was an anonymous survey. Dr. Crabb said he thought the response would be something sexual. It was not. The most common response was: “I am afraid for people to find out how far I am from being able to love people as God wants me to love them.” 

Remember, God wants us to have agape love, selfless love, unconditional love. But there is something which holds us back. So, what can open the doors to perfect love? 

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us” (4:17-19). 

The word that is a signal for the purpose of mature, divine love. As this love is born of the Spirit into our lives, it grows up and matures. That can only happen in community, as we express it toward others. When we do this, we don’t have to fear God. We don’t fear His coming; instead, we anticipate His coming, and we can’t wait for His glory to be displayed throughout the universe. This is the purpose of perfect love—it gives as boldness in the day of judgment and casts fear away so that we can enjoy reciprocal love, deep intimacy, and fellowship with God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Fear keeps our love from growing up. Fear of what? That which we all fear in relationships, whether it’s with God or men: rejection. Most of us are afraid of rejection from other people. Those who have felt the sting of rejection so much that they have lost their ability to consciously feel at all. This fear of rejection stunts the growth of perfect love. 

When do we fear? When we forget that He loved us first. Remember that God was the initiator, we were His sinful enemies. We rejected Him time and time again. Jesus came to earth and displayed His love, mercy, compassion, and healing, yet He was rejected by men. But because “God is love,” perfect love, He is not afraid of rejection. Fear of rejection is what keeps us from making the first move, especially if we have been hurt a number of times by someone who means a lot to us.

What is the result of fear in our lives? It restrains us, it keeps us and prevents us from reaching out in sacrificial, selfless and unconditional love. But, when we release the Spirit, He can and will produce agape love in our lives. 

Until I perceive God’s perfect love for me, I am not able to dispense love to another on any kind of sustained basis. As long as I go to another human being with my cracked cup, it will never stay full. I will never have enough to share with others around me. Sooner or later, I won’t be able to stand any more rejection, so I will pull my cup away and put it on the shelf somewhere. 

But if I hold out my cracked cup to God, He is more than capable of using His infinite supply of perfect love to fill my cup and keep it filled. He has enough love, for God is love, to fill my cracked cup and the cracked cups of the whole world. We just need to go to Him first. Then, with my cup full of His love, but still cracked and leaky, I can share some of His perfect love with the world and experience Maximum Joy in Christ.