“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
~1 John 4:18 (NIV).
Hate talk is fearful talk—let’s make no bones about it. Hate talk is the protection of the things we value and fight for, opposed always to the divergent views of others, forever despite them.
In its defending its position it forgets many things, but this one thing in particular it transgresses: the opportunity to love.
It therefore chooses the spoils of defeat, most paradoxically because it clamours for the exclusive victory—the ‘win at all costs, with any method,’ mentality—meaning in essence that whilst a battle’s occasionally won, the war is lost. It contends well for us who consider:
“Love never fails.”
~1 Corinthians 13:8a (NIV).
Fear always fails because it is about punishment and negativity. The one choosing the fear response is, for that time, not made in—or constructed with intention on—love.
The Character of Fear
Let’s consider that fear is the default of humanity—the devil’s tool—and love is the conception, initiation and manifestation of the Divine, and eternally so.
Fear manifests itself so very easily between (and sometimes from within) teams, the essence of competition, ‘us and them,’ difference and all manner of other worldly concepts to those and other ends. We’re all prone to it whenever we compare and we need to be ever watchful not to be trapped by it. Fear is visible, felt incongruence.
The Character of Love
Love refuses to be bullied. But instead of fighting back it responds by continuing to love in the most voluminous faith... that which is rooted and established in the true King, Jesus Christ, our eternal Lord.
The rubber quickly has to hit the road in love. Love is as practical and sufficient as it gets.
Love is action. It is magnanimous in its approach—almost as if it’s looking continually over the horizon, above the waves, tangentially. It knows no bounds. It is both beauty and magnificence—perfect, and utterly congruent, in performance.
Inclusion is the Only Way
Imagine a world where we win everything—everyone does and at the same time—because our scales of victory are the same. We measure ‘victory’ by how many people are satisfied. We search for inclusive results. We expel solutions that ‘divide and conquer’.
It’s about inclusion. It’s about defeating the need to fight. It’s about being captivated by truth, by sustainability, by reason, and finally, by righteousness and justice. We ignore—or deal with in love—indifference and responses in hate, just simply to love via inclusion.
The concept of inclusion always grows and it knows no limit.
Literally, then, the sky is the limit. If we want the perfect life—if that’s possible—it can only happen through the inclusive, i.e. ever loving and caring, mindset.
© 2010 S. J. Wickham.
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