I John 4:16-21 (NIV)

” And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

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.

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

This is what God showed me today while I was doing my morning devotional.   You may ask how does this apply to parenting.  Well, it applies to our relationship with God and others.  I wish I would have had the understanding that God unconditionally loves me  when I was younger.  My motivation for posting this is to encourage you in your daily walk with God and in the day to day duties of raising up your children in “the way they should go.”  So here goes…

The key to love is to accept that God loves me.   His love helps me to genuinely love and accept others.

v. 18  “There is no fear in love.  But perfect love { which only comes from God} drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”   If God loves me {and He does}, I have nothing to fear because He has my back.  Self-doubt, what if?, worry, etc.  are not from God.  These negative emotions are from the devil and he is trying to punch a hole in my relationship with God.  God has my back;  the devil doesn’t.

Along with love comes trust.  If I truly love someone, then I can trust them.  If God truly loves me, then I can trust Him to take care of me. {There are some people who can’t  be trusted in the natural and God gives us wisdom to see this.  But even if that person stabs us in the back, God is there to heal the wound}

I used to struggle with the concept in verse 20, “If anyone says ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar.”  This is true and is not condemning.  When we concentrate on loving God, His love is so strong that it flows through us to our unlovable brother and we do love him with God’s love, not ours.   And the good news is that we don’t have to love the unlovable with our own love, because we can’t.