Receiving true love always generates confidence.  Every child of God who is daily bathed in His truth and love will be confident that their Heavenly Father will protect and provide for them (Matthew 6:25-34).  However, God is not only our Father, He is also our Holy Judge who cannot allow any sin into His heaven (Habakkuk 1:13).  How can His love protect us when we are not perfect?  He cannot be sentimental towards us, and He would be unjust to ignore our sin.

The love of God is most clearly seen in sending Jesus to be punished for our sins, instead of us (1 John 4:10).  The perfect Son of God sacrificed Himself for imperfect sinners so that He could bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).  He did that so that we might be made right before God (2 Corinthians 5:21).  His love for us arranged for the death of Christ, so that all who believe will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16-17).  Through His love believers are born again into God’s family and should not fear the Day of Judgement.  And better than that, we can look forward positively to the Judgement Day knowing that we will be declared not guilty of all sin.  There is no doubt at all: we will not be under God's wrath if we are trusting in Jesus; instead we will be lavishly welcomed (Revelation 21:1-7).

Having dealt with the most significant cause of fear, the wrath of God against our sin, all other fears are also extinguished by God's love.  The next biggest anxiety is fear of death - which Satan uses to lock people into his domination (Hebrews 2:14-15).  But in Christ, that death, although an enemy, should have no power (1 Corinthians 15:26).  All other fears are either about the consequences of not being righteous, or the prospect of failure and loss.  Although fear is a controlling emotion, the love of God is stronger and will drive out fear when we receive His love.

The privilege of being loved by God is often greatly underestimated by believers.  Our sin has been atoned for; our guilt is removed; and the Day of Judgement will not separate us from God; we are securely bound to Him now and through all eternity.  Fear is a controlling emotion used by Satan to dominate our lives; but God's love is stronger than fear and will drive it away if we trust Jesus.  Yet perhaps some of us have a little way to go in fully accepting His love, and appreciating His indwelling presence, so that we can live confidently every day.  That is why we need to be reminded of how much He loves us, not just to sweeten our emotions but to dispel fear.