Perfected Love
Dear Cor Incensi,
John’s first Epistle makes it clear that “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16, KJV). But this divine love is not something we can seek out, apart from seeking God Himself. This kind of love is not just an instinctual kind of caring - it is an extension of grace, that lasts beyond the perfect circumstances. It can show itself, for example, as a change of heart towards others, when nothing outwardly has changed. When we have boldness before the throne of God, and continually desire Him, He will (through His Spirit) perfect us, in ways perfectly suited to our current state. Because love is not a foolish outpouring of emotion. It is a force of God who encompasses all facets of virtue (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, faith, hope, charity, etc…). And through our communion with God in prayer, we can also find what kinds of fears rule in our hearts - our petitions make this evident. Since “perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18), we will see over time our prayers change, by God’s grace, from petitions stemming from fear, to petitions stemming from charity - love for one another.
Scripture:
1 John 4:7-18, KJV:
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Spiritual Reading:
Love Made Perfect by Andrew Murray (1897)
Excerpt from “Chapter 1: God is Love”*:
“He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. “
How little we know what we are! To think that that Everlasting God who created heaven and earth, should deal with each one of us individually — with me, and that it should please Him to take out of the fountain of His everlasting Godhead, and to fill me with that everlasting love in which the Father begot the Son and in which the Holy Spirit maintains the fellowship between Father and Son.
“GOD IS LOVE”
You find these words twice in the fourth chapter of the first Epistle of John. “God is Love.” What does that mean? I think it means at once and first of all that I must not seek for love, for I may fail. If I want love I must seek God, for love is the very nature of God. It does not say God has love, but God is love, and the love that I need is God Himself coming into my heart. Not a drop of pure, real, heavenly, everlasting love can come to us, but God must be moved to give it as an act of grace. God has revealed His love in all nature, even in the very animals. Look at the way the little lamb clings to its mother and the way the mother sheep cares for the lamb. That is what we call love. And so amongst the most savage and most ungodly heathen, you can find love of a certain sort. But the love of heaven, the love of eternity, that will last, the love that is not in the flesh, but that comes from heaven, that love is God, and if I want that love I must have God. What a thought! Oh! Let the heart bow in humble praise. I want this great God to come into me and to take possession of me and to make me a vessel fit for His use, that He can fill me with love. Let the heart say: "Yea! my God! take me and fill me with love, for the sake of Thy Son who died on Calvary."
*Murray, Andrew. “Chapter 1: God is Love.” Love Made Perfect, Internet Archive, 2023. https://archive.org/details/lovemadeperfect0000murr. eBook.
Weekly Fruit of the Spirit:
LOVE
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, KJV).
Spiritual Practice:
Contemplate… How would you assess your spiritual development in relationship to your love for those around you? Are there any deep-rooted fears you have that affect your ability to charitably love?
Worship:
Winans, CeCe. “CeCe Winans - Holy Forever (Official Music Video).” 2023, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xcFM9CBiOE&list=RD2xcFM9CBiOE&start_radio=1. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
Pray
Heavenly Father,
Please extend your divine love to this wearied heart, weighed down by the cares of this world. With your perfect love, break me free from fear. Help me to truly know you and live as an extension of you through Christ’s habitation in my heart. I confess that my life has been marred by sin, but I accept your unfailing forgiveness. With humility I ask that you lead me, shape me, and perfect me in love.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
Deo Volente,
KS