S241P6 – That which love seeks: empowerment
1 Jn. 4:17-18
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
They lived in a place where their faith was not popular, but they never had problems making friends. At school they felt no different than the other kids, but there was a reason for that. Mom would tell them constantly to speak to their friends about Jesus, but they thought that was just not normal. They had friends who were of other faiths, and those kids never felt the need to speak about spiritual things. So, these kids saw their faith as merely a part of them but not something relevant to all people or all circumstances. It was personal and kept to themselves. They failed to realize that speaking about their faith was not about them but was about the God they serve. They were quenching the Spirit of God while his Spirit was trying to work through them.
This boldness and empowerment that God gives us is the result of how critical our faith is to our existence. Christianity is not just something we believe or follow. To be Christian means to be like Christ. This means that his life is modeled through our lives. Our faith drives what we do, think and say, or at least it should. Christ is not only our teacher and our Savior, but He is our identity. We find our value and purpose in him. The boldness we receive through God’s love is the courage to be like Jesus Christ in this world. It is not just about talking of him or teaching others his ways, but it is about being bold enough to live as He lived. It is the same boldness through identity which will allow us to stand before God in confidence on that day the same way we enter the throne room now.
Jesus gives us the courage and the authoritative standing to enter that throne room of God and seek the Father directly. That is a very courageous step for imperfect mankind to take, to stand before the only holy and true God. If we compare every other challenge the Lord brings us to each moment we enter that throne room, nothing we face here will seem anywhere near as daunting. If our identity in Christ is sufficient to keep us standing before God himself, then it certainly is sufficient to keep us standing before men. If we have boldness for the former, we should have boldness for the latter. Father, give us courage to stand our ground in faith before every challenge just as we have the confidence to stand before You.