No Fear in Love

May 7, 2025

Are your relationships characterized by freedom or by fear?

If you're like most people, you find yourself in a dilemma: You long to be close to other people, but you also fear being close. You want intimacy with others, but you’re also scared of it.

What is intimacy? To be close, deeply known and understood. And, that can be scary. Being vulnerable and intimate in our relationships can stir up a lot of fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of judgment. Fear that, if they REALLY knew who I was, they wouldn’t love me. Insecurity prevents intimacy and destroys your relationships. 

But, God designed us for intimacy. This isn’t just a word for marriage. You can have intimacy with God. You can have intimacy in friendships, with family. It’s just closeness. Being known. We need intimacy.

If insecurity destroys relationships, then what builds them? Love! Love builds relationships. 

The Bible says in 1 John 4:18, “Love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, this . . . shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love” (NLT). 

Love expels fear by taking the focus off of you and putting it on others. Focusing on the other person gives you the power to throw fear out of your life. 

How do you find that power to focus on other people?

You start by realizing how much God loves you. The moment you begin to understand how much God loves you, you don’t have to prove yourself anymore. It takes the pressure off, a lot. Because you’re secure in God’s love, you don’t have to spend your life trying to impress other people. 

Do you know how freeing and enjoyable it is to live life that way? When you’re secure in your relationship with Christ, you’re no longer pressured by everyone else’s expectations. Your identity and self-worth are in Christ—not in what others might think of you. 

Because, the truth is, other people MAY let you down (just like you might let someone else down). Because, we are all human. But, because of God’s perfect love, you can still choose to love anyway.

God’s love frees you to love others fearlessly.