The Candle of Love

Yesterday we began our service by lighting the fourth candle of Advent - the candle of love.  Love is the most written about, sung about, talked about thing in the world. The word itself could refer to hundreds of different realities, feelings, or actions.  Even the Bible talks about love from several different perspectives. One biblical angle that has struck me recently is from 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.”  

I think what John is saying is that when we live in God’s love, there is really nothing to be afraid of.  If you are fired from your job, you don’t have to be afraid of losing your job anymore. If you’ve died to yourself and Christ lives in you, you don’t have to be afraid of dying anymore.  When you’ve got all the love you need in Christ, you don’t have to fear losing it in your relationships with others. It’s hard for us to understand how perfectly and completely Jesus loves us.  It is not just a love that we hold. It is a love that holds us, body and soul, in life and in death. The more we understand that love, the less afraid we become.