In high school I committed this to memory, and today, a particularly challenging day, it came to remembrance. As I reflected on the last sentence, I thought on a few scriptures.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Corinthians 3:17 MEV
"So we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. God is love. Everyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them." 1 John 4:16 ERV
"Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love take away fear..." 1 John 4:18 ERV
Love, living in Love, is the only thing that can liberate us from our deepest fear. It’s the only thing that never fails; Love is the Divine in all of us. The Bible says that God is Love assuring us that where Love is there is also liberty. Where Love is there is no fear as Love has the supreme ability to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7 MEV) When we live in Love, God lives in us, and our presence becomes supernaturally endowed to liberate others.
Two Things...
(1) I often relate 1 Corinthians 13 to the manner in which I love God and others, the first and second of the greatest commandments, but I failed to turn this love inward. It just did not occur to me that a requirement for radiating love outwardly is harvesting love inwardly. (Mark 12:31 and Ephesians 5:28 mark self-love as point-of-reference for loving other people.)
(2) Do not allow fear to encumber you. Fear is not from our Heavenly Father. It is not one of His good and perfect gifts, and the Bible is clear on this. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline, abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control." (2 TIMOTHY 1:7 AMP) Make manifest the glory of God that is within you. Do not be afraid! (See Isaiah 41:10)
