Perfect Love

Over the past year, life has thrown me some significant curve balls. Today while talking to an amazingly supportive friend, she said something that really struck me. She said that the love of the Lord is not pampering, it is perfecting.
On the surface, we believe that love is supposed to feel like elation, Love is supposed to make us feel invincible. And it is. But I think that people become disillusioned when life gets difficult because it seems to go against that idea. In my experience though, it is those hard times that the Lord, in his love, uses to perfect our faith. Our God is invincible. We, however, are not. The hard times will come and they may take us to our knees. Instead of getting angry with God because life isn't as insulated as we would like, our eyes can be opened to how the Holy Spirit works for us and comforts us and the Lord himself fights our battles for us. He has never promised to pamper us. He has, however, promised us a love that will perfect us and the result is freedom from fear.

Looking at our own expectations of a pampering, Americanized love can so easily lead to bitterness, rooted in our disappointment. But the love of the Lord is not pampering. It is perfecting.

"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." 1 John 4:18