There is a difference between love and ego. It's so easy for our egos to be wrapped up in our children. Sometimes we express our ego by what we give our child, how we want them to behave, the kind of grades we want them to get, etc...rather than really loving them. I believe children know when they are merely expressions of our ego and when they are true objects of our love. We have to give difficult children extra love. Mary Alice Smith

1 John 4:17-18
God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.