No Fear in Love

“Love has no fear because perfect love expels fear.” 1 John 4:18

Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to be against something than to be for something?

I am in need of a new computer. The one I am using now is showing signs of old age. I have run all the available programs to eliminate junk files, malware, viruses, and the like. I have transferred files and folders to storage drives. I update my drivers and install hardware and software patches regularly. Never-the-less, there are signs that her health is not great, and catastrophic failure, while not imminent, is likely not too far around the bend.

Still, I hesitate to run out and buy a new machine. Why? Because PC Operating Systems have undergone a number of major shifts since I acquired my current laptop. I know how this one works. I know its quirks. It has everything I want loaded into it. She knows my secret handshake so I can log onto sites to take care of business efficiently.

But the real reason I don’t want to run out and buy a new computer is fear. I am afraid I won’t be able to figure out the new way of doing things. What will I do if they moved the little “x” from the upper right corner to the upper left corner of the screen? What will I do if the Ctrl-Alt-Del fix-all I have used for years has been changed to something else by some geeky wonder-kind?

I can imagine many scenarios where I would simply be lost and without hope with the new-fangled technologies that keep rolling down the pike. But if I am wise (which is normally quite a leap, indeed), I will come to realize there is a learning curve that every generation has to face at some point in life – and we don’t need to be afraid of those changes.

The key is to set aside the fear one is facing, and forge ahead.

Imagine the challenge our fore-bears had when they had to transition from slate tablets and chisels to papyrus and styluses (styli?). The ancient priests must have been terrified of the lost work-force when they couldn’t hear the constant chiseling taking place in those temple cubicles – only to find that the chicken scratches they were hearing were their workers writing away. The workers no doubt rejoiced when they discovered how much more time they could spend at the water cooler debating whether paper cuts hurt more than hammer-mashed thumbs (or vice versa).

While it is human nature to complain and worry, the Bible teaches us that perfect love casts out fear. I presume it is talking more about human relationships than technology, but I wonder if those two things are all that dissimilar.

One way to disarm the fear we might have of a thing, is to just set aside the fear and face the thing head-on. The first time getting behind the wheel of a car was quite scary, but setting aside the fear, one put the book-learning into practice. Acting with as much bravado as one could in a car full of equally scared driver’s education students, one gained experience and quite possibly even a love of driving over time. That love and experience cast out the earlier fear, didn’t it?

Like-wise, we fear people for a variety of reasons, but mostly we fear what they will think of us. The problem isn’t the other person, but our own fragile ego. We know the adage: Better to keep silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

If we realize that our value is not based upon what others think of us, but rather is based upon what God thinks of us – and God loves us unconditionally – then we don’t need to be afraid. The Book tells us: God so loved (insert your name here) that he gave his only begotten Son so that those who return that love will not perish, but forever have a place in God’s home (my paraphrase of John 3:16).

God’s love casts out our fear, allowing us to love others more perfectly. Ctrl-Alt-LOVE. Now isn’t THAT a command worth learning here in this, our valley?