Love is the fuel of the Kingdom. It is the motivation and the motion. Faith works through love (Galatians 5:6.) [Side note: truly, faith without works is dead; and works without love are worthless and do not come from faith at all. Fear and love are magnetically opposed. If it is fear that motivates your work, then your work is not from love and so it is not in faith. Stop doing it, return to your first love, do the first works of love, repeat as often as necessary.]

The love of Christ is the combustion that compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14). Jesus MOVES in compassion. God has given us a spirit of love. The spirit of love is the wind that makes us move in the gifts of God. Fear seeks to paralyze the motion of faith.

The spirit of fear wants to make us afraid to love.

Love is inherently risky. God Who is Love knew this when He was compelled to create the heavens and the earth and to make man in His image. He knew humanity could turn on Him. Yet for God, the rewards were worth the risks.

When you move in love you risk many things. You risk receiving nothing in return: love may not be reciprocated. You risk rejection: your love may be despised. You risk abuse: your love may be taken advantage of. You risk the fickle nature of the human heart: the one you love just might turn against you.

If you’ve ever suffered any of these risks, then you know the pain. Fear would terrorize us with this pain. Fear would council us to enclose ourselves and safeguard against any future injury. In essence, fear advises us not to love.

Christ seems rather loose with His love. It seems to come easy. Sometimes I look at a person and i can feel Christ in me loving them through my eyes. Jesus looks on them and loves them (Mark 10:21.) He’s very convincing; i begin to feel a love for them myself. I have thoughts of blessing and serving them, thoughts of encouraging them. Then, fear whispers in my ear, reminding me of the risks. They might begin to have expectations of me. They may return cruelty for my love. They could turn on me. I don’t want that to happen again. I don’t want to feel that pain again. The motion of faith begins to slow, the combustion of the heart ceases, the soul sinks into the safety of cold, quiet fear.

This is not our portion. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but the spirit of love.

We have in us this raging fire of the Father’s heart that causes all things to live and move and have their being. Love is motion. We must move. Today i call to you and to me, wherever we are frozen: get up! Love again. Move again. You are better than the bitterness. Your reward with God is greater than the response from people. You are not responsible for anyone else’s response. You are only able to respond to the love that God has blown into your being. Move in love today. It is Who He is and who you are.