2151) Love is a wondrous thing. It can bring such joy and it can also break your heart.  

Keeping these two things in mind, 1 John 4:18 makes sense. The first part of the verse says there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  

This verse stumped me much of my life. As I think about this verse, it seems that when you love, there is pain.  

Bones break. Hearts break. Marriages break. Jobs are lost. Disease shatters.  

What I wonder is, if there’s no fear in perfect love, why can love hurt so badly?  

The verse does not say that love prevents pain. Instead, it says it casts out fear. It seems this verse cannot be connected to our feelings, because feeling fear is a natural reaction.  

The word for fear in the Greek is phobos (where we get the word phobia) and it can be translated as fleeing because of the feeling of inadequacy. It also can be translated as withdrawing from the Lord.  

My take on this Greek word is there is a reaction to fear (feelings) and an action (a choice of withdrawing) because of fear.  

It’s easy to confuse these two things. Maybe becoming aware of these things is the first step to understanding this verse.