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Review: No Fear in Love: Loving Others the Way God Loves Us by Andy Braner




Review: No Fear in Love: Loving Others the Way God Loves Us
Andy Braner
Baker Books
2015

What do love and fear have in common that they end up together in a book title?  Yes, you know the verse from 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  But what about ridding yourselves of the fear that keeps love from acting and being complete?  That’s pretty much what this book is about.
Braner looks at overcoming that fear through examples from his own life.  He never professes to be perfect though and tells his readers how that worked out for him.  And could also work for you and me.

No Fear in Love: Loving Others the Way God Loves UsDivided into three sections Braner’s book the basic fear package that most of us haul around, then drills down more looking into world views that are different, and finally cultural factors that can cause fear.  The first section covers some real basic fears like failure, vulnerability, and self-worth; what they do and what if they weren’t allowed to do that.  Worldviews that collide most often are centered on religious views since they help make sense of what’s going on.  Coming against the differences produces friction and wars in some cases.  He spent quite a few pages describing his fears and how respect for the other person helped defuse the effects of fear.  Finally, in pretty much the same vein Braner looks at culture which is the social action that derives from world views. That section looked at the hot issues confronting most of us today like abortion, homosexuality, and immigration.  Again, respect without compromise is invaluable.  Respect is my catch word for what love of the other looks like in action. 

I do recommend this book.  It’s an easy read, harder to implement, and I find it a sad commentary on the current state of affairs within the Christian community that this needs to be written at all.  I am glad there are those who are willing to look around and call to us about this, and Braner does that ever so gently.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. 








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