{"id":1179,"date":"2019-10-27T04:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=1179"},"modified":"2019-10-12T12:21:09","modified_gmt":"2019-10-12T17:21:09","slug":"perfect-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2019\/10\/27\/perfect-love\/","title":{"rendered":"PERFECT LOVE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cThere is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment.&nbsp; So the one who fears is not complete in love.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=1+John+4%3A18&amp;version=CSB\">1 John 4:18 CSB<\/a><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today is my husband\u2019s birthday.&nbsp; He has helped me overcome more fears than any other person I have ever known, he has done it all with love.&nbsp; By the time we met, my heart had been broken so many times, I was done.  I was done putting my heart back out in the open for people to stomp all over.&nbsp; And just when I thought I was going to be single forever, I walked onto the third tennis court at Back Creek Park to meet my prince.  People didn\u2019t expect Jesus to be born in a barn and laid in a manger.&nbsp; I didn\u2019t expect my prince to be wearing a white pocket t-shirt and black shorts, but he was.  I have never met a man with as soft of a heart as my husband.  The men in my family have big personalities, Ron\u2019s is quiet.&nbsp; He has a tenderness that is all his own, it continues to surprise me.  But his quiet love for God, to me, is his most endearing quality.  He understands God\u2019s love in a way I don\u2019t, he lives it in a way I aspire too.  His heart breaks when anyone feels they aren\u2019t worthy of God\u2019s love, because all are.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first fear I overcame was sending an email to him.&nbsp; His response encouraged me to send the next.  Each step of our relationship was me overcoming another fear. Each step was a step of faith because I trusted God more than Ron.&nbsp; I began to give him bits and pieces of my heart, each time overcoming another fear.  But also growing in my trust in the Lord.  I relied on His love to enable me to love Ron.  I trusted God, I knew, even if Ron rejected me, He never would.&nbsp; I learned the truth of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Ecclesiastes+4%3A12&amp;version=NIV\">Ecclesiastes 4:12<\/a> which says a cord of three strands cannot be broken.&nbsp; God\u2019s strength, Ron\u2019s tender love, helped me overcome deep seated fears.&nbsp; Some of the fears I had carried with me since I was a child.  Most of them I didn\u2019t even know I had.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My husband is not a perfect man, but his love for me is perfect and drives out fear.\u00a0 I still have fears, but they are not as many.  My fears are less because of the love of God, and the love of my husband.\u00a0 Whether you\u2019re single or married, God\u2019s love is truly all you need.  God\u2019s love guided me onto the tennis court that night.\u00a0 God\u2019s love helped me have the courage to begin a new relationship.  God\u2019s love is what binds us together on the tough days.  God\u2019s love is perfect,  He will drive out fear if you let Him.\u00a0 Place your trust in Him.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThere is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment.&nbsp; So the one who fears is not complete in love.\u201d 1 John 4:18 CSB Today is my husband\u2019s birthday.&nbsp; He has helped me overcome more fears than any other person I have ever known, he has done it all&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2019\/10\/27\/perfect-love\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">PERFECT LOVE<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1179"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1181,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179\/revisions\/1181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}