Dealing With FearSample

They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

Love is the hallmark of the children of God. The world will know Him when it sees His children displaying uncommon, sacrificial love. If that is true, then we must learn how to conquer our fears and love the unlovable, forgive the unforgivable. And my joy is that I don’t have to strive and try to figure out what this love looks like. It’s His love that He pours out on me. I’m supposed to be a channel of blessing and love to everyone I come in contact with.

This love answers the age-old question: how should we then live? I think that means we should live as the hands and feet of Christ. We should love the people He would love; help the people He would help—and even be willing to die for our enemies—just like Jesus did for us.

The Good Samaritan story challenges each of us with a bold question: will we be a neighbor? Will we be inconvenienced by the pain and suffering of someone else? Will we put our prejudices aside to care about the hurts of someone who doesn’t look like us? Are we willing to suffer loss for the sake of someone else?

In a split second Wesley Autrey made the decision to risk loss for a stranger. Five years after his heroic effort, he said, “I think God has a calling for me.” On that morning Wesley, a black construction worker, and his two daughters were on the 137th Street subway platform in New York waiting for a train. He was taking his girls to school on his way to work. He observed twenty-year-old Cameron Hollopeter having a seizure. He lost his balance and ended up down on the tracks. When Wesley looked up and saw the #1 train approaching and heard the horn blowing, he knew the conductor would not have time to stop the train. He jumped onto the tracks on top of Cameron, pushing him down in the small twelve-inch space between the rails. Just enough to allow the train to pass over them with less than one inch to spare. Both men survived.

I do believe God has a calling on Wesley Autrey’s life. And I believe He has a calling on each of our lives. He calls us to make that split-second sacrifice of life and limb for the sake of others. To make that deliberate choice to love extravagantly and with abandon—to cast fear aside. And He promises that this kind of love destroys fear.

We hope you have enjoyed this plan in the John M. Perkins Devotional Series. In 1970, Dr. Perkins was tortured at the hands of the Mississippi police for his leadership in the voting rights movement. His radical forgiveness and tireless pursuit of biblical justice set him on a course where he would counsel six American Presidents, receive 16 honorary doctorates and bring healing to broken communities around the world. His life is a masterclass on purpose, friendship, and joyful endurance. At 91, he wants to pass the baton to the next generation and has created a six-part masterclass to help you discover your God-given purpose in life. To sign up for the free masterclass, visit johnmperkins.com.