God Is Love

Awhile back, I was talking to an unsaved friend, and we began to discuss what love was. I asked her how she would define it. I don’t remember her answer, but I do remember she turned the question back on me. I was caught off guard; I know what love is, but how do I define it? I gave some reply, but it wasn’t a sufficient answer. What is love? A few days later, the Lord showed me the answer – God is love. He is the very definition of what love is, and He is the perfect demonstration of love.

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. -1 John 4:16

God is love. Such a simple, yet profound truth. We have heard it over and over again. Our world takes this description of God and skews it to their own advantage to excuse their sin. “A loving God would not send anyone to hell,” “God loves me anyway,” and other similar phrases are used to change the real meaning of God’s love into something false.

The definition of true Biblical love is “giving of yourself to meet the need of another.” The Lord certainly has demonstrated this love continually:

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

What wonderful love! That the King of all the earth and heaven should condescend to give His Son to take the just punishment for our sins!

But we must know and believe the love that God has for us. We must make the love of God personal, not just for salvation, but also for our Christian life. Is it a certainty in your life? Do you KNOW that God loves you? Not just have heard it, but to have the certainty that it is true. Do you BELIEVE the love that God has for you? We may claim that we believe God is love, but does it affect our daily lives? If we believed that God loved us, would any task, any trial, any difficulty be too great to bear? If we believed it, would we not thank God for all He does, rather than complaining to God about what He hasn’t done? If He loves us, as He says He does, than we can be assured that all that comes into our lives, good or bad, is done in love for us.

If we dwell in the love of God and make it a very part of our daily lives, then because He IS love, we will dwell in Him, and He will dwell in us. He will be a constant part of our lives, not just a vague thought of Him, not just a half hour spent with Him to be left there, but a dwelling, an abiding, loving presence. How can we be desolate or discouraged when such love is ours?

As we go through our life, facing the good times or the bad, we can think of Him Who is the very definition of love. His love is unconditional, never ending, and perfect. Thinking of His love will encourage and motivate us to continue faithfully for Him, trusting that God is love.