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Fearless Love Today's Devotional Read: 1 John 3:1, 11–18 Bible in a Year: Psalms 77–78; Romans 10 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 1 John 3: There are some images so powerful they can never be forgotten. That was my experience when I viewed a famous photograph of the late Princess Diana of Wales. At first glance, the captured scene looks mundane: smiling warmly, the princess is shaking the hand of an unidentified man. But it’s the photograph’s story that makes it remarkable. April 19, 1987, when Princess Diana visited London Middlesex Hospital, the United Kingdom was engulfed in a wave of panic as it confronted the AIDS epidemic. Not knowing how the disease—which often killed with terrifying speed—was spread, the public at times treated AIDS victims like social pariahs. So it was a stunning moment when Diana, with ungloved hands and a genuine smile, calmly shook an AIDS patient’s hand that day. That image of respect and kindness would move the world treat victims of the disease with similar mercy and compassion. The picture reminds me of something I often forget: freely and generously offering the love of Jesus others is worth it. John reminded early believers in Christ that let love wither or hide in the face of our fear is really live “in death” (1 John 3. And love freely and unafraid, filled and empowered with the Spirit’s self-giving love, is experience resurrection life in its fullness (vv. , ). When are you most prone let fear stifle your love for others? How can you grow in experiencing and sharing the Spirit’s boundless love within those fearful places? God of love, You are love, and live in love is live in You. I long live with that kind of fearless, joyous love. Fill with Your Spirit, and carry ever deeper into Your love, until fear dissolves and Your love flows freely through . 
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So many times, the Bible says "Fear not". Our world is full of fear and mistrust today, and it is all we hear if we listen to the TV and radio. In our lives, Joe is starting to be in fear of going into the city near us. Every day, we hear of shootings and people being hit with stray bullets in that city. I have to admit, I'm a bit uneasy when we have to go there also. Be a prism, spreading God's light and love, not a mirror reflecting the world's hatred.
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