Love That Casts Out Fear | 1 John 4:7-21
The Mark of True Faith: Love Over Obedience
According to Avel Rivera, the clearest sign of being a true child of God is not obedience itself, but the depth of our love. While it's easy to speak about love, real love shows up in sacrifice, patience, and forgiveness—even when it's difficult or inconvenient.
The Origin of Love
The first point Avel Rivera makes is that the origin of genuine love is not found in how we’ve been raised or what we feel, but in God Himself. He reminds us that many claim they know God, but their lives don’t reflect His kind of love—a love that forgives, serves, and seeks others’ good. Authentic Christian love is not about impressing others or seeking approval, but about reflecting Christ, who loved us with sacrificial grace.
Love Starts Closest to Home
While many believers excel at loving those far away or suffering, Avel Rivera challenges us to bring this same grace into our homes—toward our spouses, children, and family. Loving those closest to us demands more, but it’s here that the evidence of God’s love shines brightest.
Love Is a Decision, Not Just a Reaction
Too often, we only show love when it's reciprocated. But Avel Rivera points out that God did not wait for us to change before loving us. True love, ‘agape love’, means responding with grace even when others don’t seem to deserve it—just as Christ loves us.
The Continuous Presence of Love
Moving forward, the sermon highlights that love from God is not just a one-time event. It’s an ongoing presence made visible through our actions, relationships, and community. The Holy Spirit empowers believers to display God’s character, turning faith into service, and words into action.
Making the Invisible God Visible
As Avel Rivera explains, no one has ever seen God, but when believers love one another, God’s attributes are seen. Through our patient, forgiving relationships—especially when it's hard—others witness the reality of God.
Plugged Into the Source
Genuine love doesn’t come from our own strength. Like a lamp needs electricity, our love needs to be connected to God’s power. When we’re plugged into the Spirit, God’s love flows through our weaknesses, reflecting His nature to the world.
The Goal: Perfecting Love That Casts Out Fear
Finally, the ultimate goal of God’s love is not just transformation today but confidence for eternity. Mature love isn’t flawless, but it’s shaped by the Gospel, trusting God more than fearing pain or rejection. “Perfect love casts out fear,” Avel Rivera emphasizes; we can love because we’re secure in how God has loved us, not out of fear, but out of assurance.
Confronting and Forgiving With Grace
Mature love doesn’t ignore wrongs but faces them with truth and grace—correcting not as punishment, but as Christ does, for restoration. True believers don’t just express love in worship or song, but in how they treat those who are hardest to love.
Love Is More Than an Idea—It’s a Living Reality
If there’s someone you struggle to love, Avel Rivera encourages you to ask God for the courage and conviction to extend grace—even when it’s difficult. That’s the very love Jesus shows to us.
In closing, perfect love is not a target we achieve, but a work God is completing in us. As this love matures, fear fades, grace grows, and Christ becomes visible in our lives and relationships. If you haven’t experienced this love, come to Christ—it’s freely given and will change the way you love forever.
Let God’s love cast out fear in your life today. Let it heal, transform, and shine—starting with you and your home.