1 John 4:16-19 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us.

● We KNOW - it means we experience and believe from experience of His love!

Example: AMYGDALA
● It reacts to anger, fear, avoidance, defenstiveness.
● It prompts the release of adrenaline.
● When it GETS HIJACKED because of something in your ENVIRONMENT. The response is to protect!
FIGHT OR FLIGHT....
● When you are heightened, under duress....you begin to fight for your life!!!
● This is temporary to things that threaten us.....
● You DON’T want to live under constant duress.
● Our senses are designed to locate danger, not live in constant hostile environments at home, work, and relationships.
● I WILL ADOPT A fear reaction anytime I make the issue at hand larger in my mind than the reality of my God.
HOW YOU VIEW GOD - -MATTERS!!!
God is in a good mood!
He is not threatened, so we don’t have to live threatened either.

1. Punishment is a form of control
2. Intimidation - fear of punishment - is often motivated by my desire to control you
3. If this is a tool in my parenting - I will hurt you if you don’t let me control you.
4. We can have an expectation and template that God does the same thing
5. When we get out there and break all of His rules - that is confusing?
6. Maybe He didn’t see that?

LOVE PROTECTS HEART CONNECTION
● I can now shift to - this relationship with Him is held together by the way I manage the relationship to protect our relationship

If I manage myself to avoid HIS PUNISHMENTS - I am learning SELF-PRESERVATION - I am not learning love!!!

● I am learning how to manipulate God and protect myself by learning the rules = like a good politician or lawyer - manipulate the system ----

● The one who fears is not mature in love --

● As long as I am steering my life ---to avoid PUNISHMENT --i REALLY stay very immature in my love..I’ll have lots of rules and painful consequences

● The Great Lie:
○ You need to be controlled

We cannot BE who we are,
unless we SEE who we are,
stripped of the LIES that blind us.

Question to Ponder:
Where are you under the influence of ‘control’ because of ‘fear?