Yesterday at church the sermon was called "Following a Star to Love," it being the Sunday we light the Love Advent candle. Love, I think, is one of the most important Christian messages and it speak volumes about who God is and how he relates to us. The scripture passage used for the sermon really spoke to me. It was 1 John 4:16b-19:
"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 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. We love because he first loved us."
I added the italics, because those are two points that especially speak to me. First, I have felt in the past that I fear a great many things in this life. Fear causes me to be paralyzed and stagnant; I don't grow because I fear what might come with change. I fear people's disapproval and I fear being disliked or alone. But! There is no fear in love! I know that there are people in my life who love me, and I know that God first loved me, so in this knowledge I try to fear a little bit less.
My pastor also made a great point. He said, "Love is like oxygen." This immediately caused me to want to sing! I know he meant that without love we can't survive, but all I was hearing for a minute or two was, "Love is like oxygen/ You get too much you get too high/ Not enough and you're gonna die..." If you're not sure what I'm talking about, just watch this!
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