Love versus fear.
We are living in a time, in a world, in which fear rules our hearts. Fear that has been woven into the very fabric of our society; fear that we carry around as a heavy burden in our bodies, and in our souls.
The Bible is clear that there is no fear in love. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Fear has to do with punishment. Love has to do with seeing Christ in all, especially the distressed.
Now is the time as Christ followers to choose: do we want to live in the spirit of fear, or do we want to embody the perfect love of God in this world? We cannot choose both.
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It can be all too easy to be swallowed up by fear.
It's acceptable, in the eyes of many, to continue putting up walls, turning back boats, not saving those in distress in the middle of the sea, imprisoning those who dared try to cross a man-made border “illegally”.
Many justify these acts by saying that they are not our brothers and our sisters, they are not our neighbors, they are not aliens living in our land…they are others.
It can be all too easy to say, “Well, many of them are Muslims…” and deny the love of Christ to those who are believers of different religions (or of no religion).
We choose love. It is not always easy. It does not always feel safe. It takes work. But we choose love.
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