Love & Fear (feat. Risk)
There’s a song called “Hero” that was written by Bethany Dillon back in 2005 on an album of songs inspired by The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The lyrics of this powerful song have been replaying in my mind, notably some of the first few lines:
“You dusted off the steeples
Places full of fear
Full of never-ending judgment
—
What is love without much risk?”
Yeah…what IS love without much risk?
And why do we have to risk so much in order to love well?
Honestly, I’ve been contemplating these things a lot as a result of my relationship with Robby – we were talking through fears we wrestle with, and I distinctly remember saying to him, “I know I can’t both protect myself and love you well.” This sentiment came from 1 John 4:18 which reads, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
It was almost like I had to verbalize it so I could hear for myself this truth from the Word; after all, “love is not self-seeking” (1 Corinthians 13:1). You cannot both caudle the fears you battle in your own mind and set yourself aside – it just tends to be pretty difficult to look out for someone else when you’re preoccupied with looking after yourself. At some point, one or the other has to give.
This is why love is such a risk – not necessarily because it results in something “bad” happening, but because you are risking yourself. You might be exposed as a result of love… whether it’s your flaws, fears, or secrets. Very few enjoy the thought of being that vulnerable for obvious reasons.
Operating fearfully then becomes more enticing, which is self-preserving. When you’re preoccupied with what you’re afraid of, all you’re pondering is “what’s going to happen to me? I have to protect myself from getting ___!” (fill in the blank: hurt, taken advantage of, etc.). Oh my friends…we cannot choose both.
I find Bethany Dillon’s song to be that much more artistic because a few lines before “What is love without much risk?” she speaks to the way Jesus “dusted” fear off of His people (“You dusted off the steeples, places full of fear). It’s 1 John 4:18 again.
The victory we have is this: we don’t have to use our willpower to fear less – we just need to focus our attention on the love of Christ more. His love will do the work in us of eradicating fear; we just have to believe in His love. If we make this a daily practice, love will rule and protect our lives, and we will no longer believe we have to do that (out of fear).
