Love is Perfected

Hey Everyone!

Well, it is the beginning of day three on my fast and I am just over 49 hours into it. God has been revealing things that seem simple to me, but they are things that I've never taken the time to realize. For example, for the past two days, I've been reminded of what it feels like to be excluded. Let me preface this by saying that this exclusion has not been intentional. However, eating is something that everyone has in common. Am I right? But when all others eat and you don't, there is a connection or commonality lost. When others are enjoying a "nice" meal, talking about how good the food is, talking about the desserts they will have afterward, and you are sitting there with no food to comment on and no possibility to put your two cents in on what dessert to have... you feel left out. When others feel obligated to avoid eating around you or avoid letting you see the dessert that has been chosen, it is yet another exclusion. In these times however, my thoughts are not to disengage myself from the conversation around me or avoid the sight of food, but rather a want to be involved in the conversation. I know that the avoidance of placing food around me is for my benefit, but that isn't what I want. 

Now, this might be a stretch, but go with me now. This makes me think about how many times I've done the same thing to someone else in a different situation. How many times have I avoided talking to someone because it would be best if I didn't (whether for my benefit to avoid an awkward situation or for their benefit because they want "to be left alone")? I mean really... how many times have I unintentionally excluded someone? Many. It might seem odd, but I struggle with meeting new people and getting to know them. It is a hard thing for me to do. But I realize that this exclusion is based out of my fear and lack of love for some. 

BUT... of this, I am not guilty because of the grace and love that I have from God through Jesus Christ. Because of this love from my Heavenly Father, I am able to move past this and out of that fear. In I John 4:7-12 & 17-19 it says:

"Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us... In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; for we are as He is in this world. There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He first loved us."

The bold part above is a beautiful picture of what Christ has done for us. As children of God, we have that perfect love within us. As children of God, "we are as He (Jesus) is!" We have been made perfect just as Christ is perfect, because of His sacrifice. God has blessed us beyond anything I could think or imagine. 

All of this to say that as the perfect, blameless children of God because of Christ's sacrifice, we have the joy and call to share this perfect love with the world around us and not hoard it for ourselves.

Convicted to love,

Josh