Fearless Love 无惧的爱
Dexu Xia
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 3:14
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.
On 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 to 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 to others is worth it. John reminded early believers in Christ that to let love wither or hide in the face of our fear is really to live “in death” (1 John 3:14). And to love freely and unafraid, filled and empowered with the Spirit’s self-giving love, is to experience resurrection life in all its fullness (vv. 14, 16).
When are you most prone to 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 to live in love is to live in You. I long to live with that kind of fearless, joyous love. Fill me with Your Spirit, and carry me ever deeper into Your love, until fear dissolves and Your love flows freely through me.
我们因为爱弟兄，就晓得是已经出死入生了。没有爱心的，仍住在死中。—约翰一书3章14节
有些照片实在太让人震憾而永难忘怀，这也是我看到一帧已故威尔斯王妃黛安娜著名的照片时的经验。乍看之下，不过是王妃正与一位不知名的人士握手，脸上洋溢温暖的笑容。但这张看似普通的照片，却有个非凡的故事。
在1987年4月19日，戴安娜王妃造访伦敦米德尔塞克斯医院时，英国正遭受爱滋病的威胁，民众陷入一片恐慌。那时，社会大众不知道这种常以惊人速度夺命的疾病是如何传播的，因此对爱滋病患存有偏见而排斥他们。
那天，王妃没戴手套，以真诚的微笑，从容自在地与一位爱滋病患握手，真是震撼人心！这种尊重与仁慈的形象也感动了世人，能激励人们以同样的爱与怜悯对待爱滋病患。
这张照片使我想起了我经常忘记的事：坦然并毫无保留地与人分享耶稣的爱绝不徒然。约翰提醒初代的信徒，若任由爱变得枯干或被恐惧掩盖，我们其实“仍住在死中”（约翰一书3章14节）。然而，当我们心中有圣灵舍己的爱所充满，有能力可以从容无畏地爱人，我们就能经历复活生命所带来的丰盛（14、16节）。
你何时最容易因惧怕而无法爱人？
你如何在恐惧中愈发与人分享圣灵那无尽的爱？
慈爱的上帝，祢就是爱，住在爱里面就是住在祢里面。
我渴望活出喜乐、无惧的爱。请祢的圣灵充满我，
让我能更深体会祢的爱，使我不再惧怕，
并能流露祢的爱。