“Stir in me a love that’s deep
A love that’s wide, a love that’s sweet
And help me Lord to never keep it to myself
And if my heart should dimly burn
And if my feet should fail to run
Call my name and I will come right back to you.
There’s. No. Fear. In. Love.”
–No Fear in Love by Steffany Gretzinger
This song has been replaying in my heart constantly the past two months.
When we first arrived in L*a*o*s*, I felt fear for one of the first times on the race. It hit me that I really couldn’t talk about Jesus openly in this place, and it both hurt and scared me. Hurt because my little outgoing heart was like “NO! I don’t want to be silenced! I want to overflow joyful words of God’s faithfulness to everyone here so that they can know Jesus too!”, and scared because I know my tendency to say such things so openly and this could put others and myself in danger.
This fear was quieted as I entered into a month where I experienced God’s love SO fully and deeply every day!
My team worked on a farm, taking care of pigs and cleaning out fish ponds! During this time out on a farm in the middle of nowhere, away from everything, including Christians, God met with us. I came to see how deep God’s love for each and every person is, and came to see His love at work when it was not allowed to be put into words.
To some, my life at that place may have looked like nothing but hosing off pigs, pulling weeds out of ponds, sweeping up corn husks, throwing water on everyone, and learning how to count in their language with the other farm workers, but it was SO much more than just that!
It’s like I could finally rest in God’s love, because there was nothing I could do in that place to win people for Him besides just loving them. I couldn’t speak their language or understand them at all, except numbers, and we had a blast counting together over and over! Not because anything productive was communicated, but because LOVE was communicated!
I couldn’t tell these nonbelievers that worked there anything about God, but I COULD show them love.
I COULD spray them with a hose as they walked by and I was cleaning the pigs!
I COULD yell “Sabadiee” to them with a big smile when I walked by them through the pig poop!
I COULD make funny faces at them!
I COULD throw cold water on them on a hot day!
I COULD play my Jesus music on a speaker while dancing around in a pond, both feet stuck in muddy slime at the bottom and covered in mud, fish slime, little spiders and other bugs, and pond water while pulling morning glories off the top of the water!
Making a difference is as simple as one thing. One word.
LOVE!
Coming from a month in Thailand where I had a lot of fear from my tendency to be culturally offensive (:p) , I walked into this month in L*a*O*s* putting my fear down before Jesus and letting him replace it with His love. And He did!!
I knew I could still mess up by saying and doing things I shouldn’t in this country, but I also knew that perfect love casts out fear. And I wanted to have overflowing love for the people there, not fear.
Perfect love CASTS OUT fear. It doesn’t just diminish fear or cover it up temporarily. It CASTS IT OUT!
Bye, fear!
1 John 4:18
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
But what does that even look like? What does it look like to really LOVE someone?
Let’s ask God!
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
“Love is patient,
Love is kind;
It does not envy or boast.
It is not arrogant,
It is not rude.
It does not insist on it’s own way.
It is not irritable or resentful.
It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things,
Believes all things,
Hopes all things,
Endures all things.
Love never ends.”
So love is a choice. Our first reaction or thought may not be love, but that’s when we can take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. And since God is love, when I take every thought and make it obedient to him I am also making it obedient to LOVE. I’m pushing every thought that I have towards someone else into the lens of love instead of criticism.
When I rest in God’s love for me, It makes me want to show this love to others either in actions, words, or even just in my thoughts towards them more!
In the last few months, I have learned that sometimes the deepest love you can have for someone is when you choose understanding instead of demanding an explanation. Choosing to see through the eyes and think through the thoughts of “what is best for them? What do they need?” and testing every single thought against 1 Corinthians 13. Are my thoughts towards others patient? Are they kind? Do I hope for the best? Believe the best of them and their intentions?
Jesus didn’t demand that we explain ourselves to Him, He just loved us as we were and said He wanted what’s best for us.
Why can’t we show love like that?
It’s like re-routing your thought process to seek out God’s love instead of justifying things for yourself! It’s so challenging, but actually really fun!
So that’s my challenge to you today! To filter your thoughts through love. To take every thought captive and make it obedient to LOVE {Christ}. To casts out the fear you have and replace it with love. To practice waking up every day and choosing to love those you know you love, without letting thoughts of fear overcome you. Love is a choice! And God chose us out of His love! So CHOOSE those around you. Choose to love your friends, your spouse, your family, or even just that person in front of you at Starbucks or that little girl you pass at the trash dump in Cambodia.
Choose to love them,
Because HE chose to love us!
