Growing up with little money and in a traditional church, getting married too young and then living as an Air Force officer’s spouse, I somehow felt that the strong love in my heart was a weakness which made me vulnerable and exposed me to danger. I didn’t understand unconditional love in the way that God had intended it, probably because love rarely came to me that way. I always felt that I needed to earn kindness and that I had to be “good enough” to deserve love. The world around me always appeared like a tiered system of those that “have” and those that “want what others have,” disenchanted blue collar workers complaining about the disconnected white collar managers, officers treating enlisted people like their dumb servants, and people taking sides against each other with political discussions, religious debates, and even beliefs over immunizations.
The world seems to be laden with competition, people dividing into groups that battle one another, even “Christians” sparring over little differences in their beliefs that break up churches and cause collateral damage to the entire community. How in the world could the phrase and childhood Sunday School song, “Jesus loves me” even come close to impacting all of the bad things in this world?
Listen to the song, Jesus Loves Me, and let it speak to your spirit. Let the simple words and melody speak to the little girl or boy within you that only desired love in the purest of forms. And whether you have been loved well or your heart has been damaged by others, I want you to know that Jesus’s love is still offered freely to you, and it can transform and fill you completely.
Why do we argue? Why do we divide into groups that fight? Why do we use our words to attack each other?
FEAR
Fear of abandonment, fear of embarrassment, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of others, fear of being hurt…. so much fear.
Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection. 1 John 4:18 TPT
JESUS LOVES YOU. Walk not in fear, but walk in the freedom and joy of God’s perfect love. Love truly was intended to be unconditional, and each one of us has a void within us that only Jesus can fill. Once you fill that with his truth and a relationship with him, then the love simply flows from within you to everyone around you.
Just as when I was a little girl, I can see that the love within my heart does make me vulnerable and exposes me to danger, but I also now know that the love he has placed in me since I first gave my life to Jesus at a young age is not a weakness, because I have learned to love unconditionally and establish healthy boundaries. He has consumed my tender heart and love for people and transformed it into an amazingly powerful super power. I don’t know if this happens with anyone else, but I feel this love with such an intensity that it takes my breath away. His love literally wrecks me in an amazing way, with tears, a wash of peace, and an inability to think of anything else in those moments.
LOVE
Love breaks down barriers, love unites enemies, love puts a stop to battles, love heals hearts, love restores hope, and love makes babies grow.
Love is freedom, love is joy, love is peace, love is God, and love is true. There is no room for fear when we are filled with the completeness of God’s love.
Goodbye, FEAR, you don’t have a place to live anywhere within me any more, not even in the basement of my heart. It’s completely full of unconditional LOVE, which Jesus freely gives and I have finally learned to receive.
