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Perfect in Love

1 John 4:18 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.

We, as Christians, so often want our walk with God to be easy and happy all of the time. When in reality, there will be hardships and tough times that crop up along the way, even in (and maybe especially with) a life lived through Jesus Christ.  We are easily deceived into believing that if something is not going well, then that somehow means God is displeased with us.  This is an outright lie!  So, should we fear the hardships as if they were punishment from God?  No!  They are not punishments from God, they are the ways in which God makes us perfect in love.  Read the scriptures!  I know that all of the events of my life happen in order for God to complete the good work He has begun in me. (Romans 8:28 and Philippians 1:6)  What a way to think about the hardships I face!  As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardship, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  Amen!  I do not fear what God has in store for me, no matter the earthly outcome, because the eternal outcome is so much greater.

God, remove any fear and let your grace abound in the hardships as you perfect us in love through Jesus.

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