For some reason though, I can't get
this out of my head....”Perfect Love”. The Bible verse keeps
coming to mind from 1 John 4:18 (KJV), “There is no fear in
love; but perfect love casteth out fear”. I feel as though the
Holy Spirit is tugging at my heart, bringing this to memory for a
reason, so here I write. And before I sat to write, God had already
worked and prepared me in helping with this post, which you will see.
There is a surprise and a gift at the end!
Searching in the 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary, the word “Love” is defined as:
LOVE, n.
1. An affection of the mind
excited by beauty and worth of any kind, or by the qualities of an
object which communicate pleasure, sensual or intellectual. It is
opposed to hatred. Love between the sexes, is a compound affection,
consisting of esteem, benevolence, and animal desire. Love is
excited by pleasing qualities of any kind, as by kindness,
benevolence, charity, and by the qualities which render social
intercourse agreeable. In the latter case, love is ardent
friendship, or a strong attachment springing from good will and
esteem, and the pleasure derived from the company, civilities and
kindness of others.
Between certain natural relatives, love seems to be in some cases
instinctive. Such is the love of a mother for her child, which
manifests itself toward an infant, before any particular qualities in
the child are unfolded. This affection is apparently as strong in
irrational animals as in human beings.
We speak of the love of amusements, the love of books, the love of
money, and the love of whatever contributes to our pleasure or
supposed profit.
The love of God is the first duty of man, and this springs from just
views of his attributes or excellencies of character, which afford
the highest delight to the sanctified heart. Esteem and
reverence constitute ingredients in this affection, and a fear of
offending him is its inseparable effect.
From that verse, the word love comes from the Greek word, agapē; which basically means affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love.
Now to go beyond that, searching in the
1828 Noah Webster Dictionary,
the word “Perfect”
is defined as:
PER'FECT, a. [L. perfectus,
perficio, to complete; per and facio, to do or make through, to carry
to the end.]
1. Finished; complete;
consummate; not defective;
having all that is requisite to its nature and kind; as a perfect
statue; a perfect likeness; a perfect work; a perfect system.
As full, as perfect in a hair as
heart.
2. Fully informed; completely
skilled; as men perfect in the use of arms; perfect in discipline.
3. Complete
in moral excellencies.
Be ye therefore perfect, even as
your Father who is in heaven is perfect. Matt.5.
4. Manifesting
perfection.
My strength is made perfect in
weakness. 2 Cor.12.
Perfect in that verse comes from the Greek word, teleios, which basically means brought to its end, finished, wanting nothing necessary to completeness, that which is perfect.
I do recognize in verse 1 John 4:18
(KJV), “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out
fear”, that fear is mentioned twice. I could keep going further
and define fear as well but I think we all understand what fear is
and how it can consume us. We can be assured that God tells us, “do
not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God”
(Isaiah 41:10). Even when we are struggling and feel otherwise;
this is a command and a promise from God to you and me.
Reasoning through all of this, I believe the Lord is sharing with me that we are meant to have a complete affection and highest delight to the sanctified heart with God who loves us unconditionally, without fail. When we are abiding with God in this Perfect Love, then it should manifest in others too as we trust Him in all things. Why do I believe this? Because He says so in the verses prior to 1 John 4:18:
Reasoning through all of this, I believe the Lord is sharing with me that we are meant to have a complete affection and highest delight to the sanctified heart with God who loves us unconditionally, without fail. When we are abiding with God in this Perfect Love, then it should manifest in others too as we trust Him in all things. Why do I believe this? Because He says so in the verses prior to 1 John 4:18:
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God;
and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that
loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested
the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No
man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath
given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the
Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and
he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to
us.
God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God
in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”
(1 John 4:7-17)
Prior to writing this, God revealed His
Providence and care for me. I want to share something neat so that
you can see how He shares His Sovereignty and Perfect Love in the
simplest and most meaningful ways, that only He can orchestrate.
Sometimes it's just the little things like this He does that puts a
smile on my face!
My Dad writes a column every few months
in our Church's newspaper that gets mailed to others all over the US
on a weekly basis. It came in the mail yesterday (2/13/14) and I saw
that one he had written was printed in there. It's called, “A Transcending Peace”...if you want to go read it later, please
do! So, I was in the mood to read and just felt like reading some of
his past articles as well. I did a web search and opened an older
article he had written called, “Searching for Perfection”.
Keep in mind, this is when I was already having the words “Perfect
Love” in my mind and was considering on writing something about it
for today. As I was reading through it, the words that had already
been in my heart, my Dad had written those exact words in this
article. They popped out of the screen at me, just about! To top it
off, it was dated one year ago exactly (2/13/13)! I don't know if it
doesn't take much to amuse me, but I just think that is the neatest
thing and I couldn't help but go and write this post...even if it was
late at night going into wee hours of the morning!
God continues to keep me in awe of His
Providence and Perfect Love for me. I am far from perfect here on
earth but to know that He see's me as perfect and continues to want
to reveal Himself to me in so many ways, big and small, I can't help
but be in love. He see's you as perfect too. He created you. He loves
you for who you are; with a Perfect Love that really no one else can
give as He can. He gave us the best gift we could ever have that
shows His absolute Perfect Love for us and that is Jesus Christ. One
who gives us Salvation and Eternal Life just by believing in Him.
There is nothing we have to do but just trust and believe, it's a
free gift. Perfect Love...the best gift for all Eternity that we all
must share!
"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more..."
Philippians 1:9
Enjoy this song...
