John explains to be confident of God’s love on the day of judgment because God’s wrath is reserved for those who are unrepentant. We are complete in God’s Love.
Franklin D. Roosevelt at his first Inaugural Address, which occurred in 1933, in the middle of the Great Depression: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
I can move forward because I’m motivated by God’s unconditional love. I’m not afraid of God’s wrath, because I’m complete in God’s Love.
Amplified:
There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love]. God’s love has everything to do with it.