Fear Casts Out Perfect Love

There is much violence in our world.  In the past few days, we've been shocked by the shootings of our Afro-American family by police and, now we're shocked by the sniping of police in Dallas.  Unfortunately, violence has been with us for a long time, i.e., Genesis 4, Cain and Abel.  Violence is in all parts of the world.  The Scripture teaches that "...perfect love casts out fear." (I John 4:18)  Verse 20 even says that we can't love God and hate our neighbor.  I believe our fear is casting out perfect love.  When I'm afraid I try to avoid that of which I'm afraid.  If I can't avoid it, then I try to get rid of it.  Attempting to get rid of a fear involves denying that I have fear and/or projecting that fear onto someone else.  When I project my fears onto some other person or people group, I make them an enemy a person, or people group, to be hated.  An enemy who might take my job, diminish the value of my neighborhood, change the way my Church "works", teach a theology other than mine, etc.  Indeed, fear casts out our capability to relate via perfect love.  My prayer is for the victims of violence, their families, their cities, their people groups, their nations as well as the perpetrators of violence.  I hope we pray for ourselves, as well as each other, so that with Christ we may face our fears, trusting that the Spirit of God will redeem them