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Still, nobody was talking publicly about him for fear of the Jews.
John 7:13 CSB
People had an opinion about Jesus but weren't saying it "out loud".
Fear.
The Jewish leaders must've had the ability to make people's lives miserable for anyone who spoke out.
We can be afraid of all kinds of things. Some have real consequences & our fear can be a good thing to put boundaries or support in place, and some fears are about things that may never happen. 
We all have fears.
Fear of what people might think.
Fear of rejection.
1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out fear, and one day we will know that love in all it's perfection and there will be no more fear.
Can you imagine what that will be like?
It's actually heaven!
A life with no fear, because there is perfect love.
For now we have imperfect love.
God's love is filtered by the world, our experience, and our own hearts, and then there's the imperfect love that we have for one another... but that love is a taste, a glimpse, a foretaste of what is to come, when all hurt will be unhurt, all brokenness unbroken, and all fear will be washed away in a tide of perfect love.
#onedayallwillbemadenew
#fornowloveoneanotherwell

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