阅读经文 

我还记得我爱上那个成为我妻子的女人时的情景。我们当时在大学里，已经互相了解了一段时间，然后我们开始约会。当我意识到我不再害怕在她面前做自己时，我知道我已经爱上她了。我可以和她分享我最深的想法，关于我的事业、我的未来目标、我的计划、我的信仰和我的家庭。虽然分享这些事情使我变得脆弱，但我知道她不会试图用这些来攻击我。我并不害怕她会在我悲伤、愤怒、沮丧或愚蠢的时候跑掉或离开。被爱和在爱里消除了我的惧怕。

如果与我的妻子相爱使我的惧怕消失，那么了解神的爱会使我的惧怕消失多少呢？“神就是爱 ”，使徒约翰在我们今天所读的经文中说，“爱里没有惧怕。”

当我们在与神的关系中越来越多地成长时，祂就会驱走我们生活中的惧怕。虽然直到在天上与神同在之前，我们的惧怕可能永远不会完全消失，但祂的爱能够除去我们的惧怕，即使在我们经历死荫幽谷之时。（参诗 23:4）

下次你害怕的时候，把你的惧怕带给神。让祂的爱冲刷你。求祂拿走你的惧怕，用祂完美的爱来代替。

I remember when I fell in love with the woman who became my wife. We were in college, we had been getting to know each other for a while, and then we started dating. I knew I was in love when I realized I wasn’t afraid to be myself in front of her anymore. I could share my deepest thoughts with her about my career, my future goals, my plans, my faith, and my family. Although sharing those things made me vulnerable, I knew that she wouldn’t try to use any of that against me. I wasn’t afraid that she would run away or leave when I was sad or angry or frustrated or goofy. Being loved and being in love took away my fears.

Now, if being in love with my wife made my fear go away, how much more should knowing the love of God take my fear away! “God is love,” says the apostle John in our Bible reading for today, and “there is no fear in love.”

As we grow more and more in our relationship with God, he drives out the fear in our lives. And while our fear may never go away completely until we are with God in heaven, his love can take away our fear even in the darkest valleys we might pass through (Psalm 23:4).

The next time you are afraid, take your fear to God. Let his love wash over you. Ask him to take your fear away and to replace it with his perfect love.