LOVE Multiplied
📜 The Word
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
— Romans 13:1
🌎 The World Behind the Word
If you read this message today, you’ll understand why yesterday’s message was intentional. This is Paul’s Chapter 13 coming to you after Paul’s Chapter 12. Chapter 12 defined Love and the Living Sacrifice— chapter 13 applies it. So, here we go…
We are living in a cycle of fear that feels like it has no antidote. Everyone sees it, and it is coming from all sides. A corrupted policy produced a broken social reality, and that broken reality demanded a response. Whether that response has gone too far is not the topic here. The topic is the fear that is pushing into each of our spaces.
What matters is the cycle of fear that is present everywhere we choose to look and how we engage with it. You have a choice in how you engage. One path leads to more fear, another leads to alignment with the Almighty.
So what is happening?
👮♂️ 1. Fear Inside Law Enforcement
Many ICE agents feel legitimate threat — vocal protests, hostility, and even physical confrontations — which leads to covering identities, heightened defensive postures, and fear-driven split-second decisions. That’s understandable from their perspective and can appear compassionate or cautious on the individual level.
👁️🗨️ 2. Fear Perceived by the Public
When agents wear masks or heavy tactical gear, the symbolic message to observers is often: “We are at war.” That visceral imagery triggers anxiety, trauma, and mistrust — especially in communities already sensitive to overreach or historical discrimination.
From the outside, a masked government agent isn’t “a compassionate officer”; it’s “an unknown threat with power over life and liberty.” The paradox is the masks are coming from a place of fear and also add to it.
🧑🤝🧑 3. Fear Among Neighbors & Immigrant Communities
People are avoiding:
medical care
schools
workplaces
public spaces
Because they see enforcement as indiscriminate or unpredictable — even when the agents themselves are trying to be surgical.
On this side of the equation are also actors who play are playing a roll to distill more fear by portraying all law enforcement and their supporters as evil— to shield real criminals and shift it on a new group. These are the charlatans in this story.
This dynamic is putting walls up between every sector of society. The truth is nobody is immune and we all are being asked to take a side.
Don’t do it! That thinking is moral folly and more importantly spiritual destruction.
On all sides there are only victims to be found. We can all agree— it’s a mess.
❓ The Meaning
If you read Paul, above, all the way through verse 5, you will notice what Paul does not say.
He does not say:
Governments are always righteous
Governments define good
Governments may terrorize the innocent
He gives a functional definition:
Authority exists to punish evil and reward good.
So the moral test of ICE or any enforcement agency is simple:
Are they punishing evil ?
The moment fear spreads beyond the guilty, Romans 13 is already being violated by the state but in this case, that isn’t the only dynamic at play.
Paul does not give Nero, Ceaser of Rome, moral blank checks. He gives Nero a job description and tells his Christian followers to remain law abiding citizens and avoid falling in with the Zealots... those who sought revolution and violent overthrow of the government.
Paul is bridging the gap between Sinai, and Zion… More on that later.
Fear only dominates when love is low, trust is broken, and compassion is absent.
🌿 Covenant Contrast
Old Covenant Tribalism:
My tribe has the moral high ground
New Covenant Grace:
None but God has Moral Authority
🤵 Pastoral Word
“Fear is a two-way mirror “
This is exactly the pattern playing out
Agents fear for their safety, and that operational fear compounds into actions that can appear aggressive or opaque.
Communities fear for their safety, and that perceived fear breeds mistrust, protest, and trauma.
Officials fear political retribution, and that institutional fear erodes cooperation and moral clarity.
So now what?
To follow up on 1st John— “Perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18) and this is exactly the environment where Romans 12’s call to be a living sacrifice becomes not just beautiful language, but a necessary antidote. That “limiting reactant” to this chaotic concoction is Love, yet again.
It needs to be said— even if one side or the other is absolute in their immorality, it is not a reason to discard love and become judgment. That’s when love must grow stronger! Many are surrendering love in favor of stones.
Where fear is multiplying, love must be intentionally multiplied greater— not ignored, not excused, but navigated with courage and mercy.
My message yesterday was intentional with this topic in mind for today.
Before we talk about the state, we talk about the soul. We establish our place and set anchor before the storm. This topic presented before yesterday’s would have put fear, before Love. You know where I stand, and I know where you stand. We come together with Love for the benefit of others in this challenge.
Thus:
A living sacrifice:
Refuses tribal hatred
Refuses scapegoating
Refuses fear-based obedience
It says:
“Even if the system is broken, I will not become broken with it.”
That means:
Churches serve migrants without asking for papers
Believers support victims without asking status
Law enforcement targets crime, not identity
The government shifts in recognition of our resolve
Criminals can only choose one side or seek refuge in hiding
…and remember, each category above is us. None of us are different, we just have different mirrors we gaze upon.
A tale of two mountains.
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai is the mountain where Moses received the Law from God, as described in the Book of Exodus. It represents the Old Covenant, characterized by the giving of the Law, which was accompanied by fear and trembling. The scene at Sinai is depicted with vivid imagery: "a blazing fire, darkness, gloom, and storm"
Mount Zion
In contrast, Mount Zion represents the New Covenant, established through the blood of Jesus Christ. Zion is often associated with the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. The author of Hebrews describes this mountain as a place of joy and festivity: "But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels in joyful assembly"
Source: Topical Bible: The Contrast of Two Mountains
Both places served as foundational aspects to the nature of our worship. One is no worse or better than the other, depending on perspective. To have one and not the other would put God behind a curtain and leave us with no purpose— this is why God chooses our authorities— to illuminate truth, and Love. Sinai without Zion leads to tyranny. Zion without Sinai leads to chaos.
In between stands Jesus, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He is the bridge.
That’s were fear falls away and Grace prevails.
The shirt on Jesus in the image says, “Love Your Enemy, I meant it”. Let’s mean it together.
🙏 Prayer
Faithful God,
Let my Love be
testimony for the weak.
Let my hope be the light for the lost
Let us all find each other
and share our love for one another
Amen.
🔥 Carry this With You Today
I stand for justice and compassion today with love for my fellow man.
🙏 Pray
Fear Defeated by Love
Father God,
we come to You not as fractions,
but as Your children standing together
in a frightened world.
Where fear has multiplied,
we ask You to multiply love even more.
Where hearts are clenched,
soften them with Your peace.
Where anger is loud,
let Your mercy speak louder.
For those who feel hunted,
give them safety.
For those who feel threatened,
give them courage.
For those who feel forgotten,
give them hope that does not disappoint.
Jesus, You walked straight into chaos
and did not flinch.
You stood between enemies
and called them both to lay down their stones.
Teach us to do the same.
Light up the places where we are lost.
Heal the places where we are wounded.
And let Your love be stronger
than every fear that tries to rule us.
We trust You.
We follow You.
And we rest in the power of Your peace.
Amen. 💛