God's Love

God's Love

God Is Love

God is Love: It's Unconditional

God is Love, and His love is very different from human love. God's love is unconditional, and it's not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship.

God is Love: How does God Define Love?

The Bible tells us that "God is Love" (1 John 4:8). But how can we even begin to understand that truth? There are many passages in the Bible that give us God's definition of love. The most well known verse is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

God is Love: How do we Define Love?

"God is Love", but how do we define it? The American Heritage Dictionary defines love as "an intense affection for another person based on familial or personal ties". Often this "intense affection" stems from a sexual attraction for that other person. We love other people, or we say we love other people, when we are attracted to them and when they make us feel good. Notice that a key phrase in the dictionary definition of love is the phrase "based on." This phrase implies that we love conditionally; in other words, we love someone because they fulfill a condition that we require before we can love them. How many times have you heard or said, "I love you because you are cute;" or "I love you because you take good care of me;" or "I love you because you are fun to be with"? 

Our love is not only conditional, it is also mercurial. We love based on feelings and emotions that can change from one moment to the next. The divorce rate is extremely high in today's society because husbands and wives supposedly stop loving one another-or they "fall out of love". They may go through a rough patch in their marriage, and they no longer "feel" love for their spouse, so they call it quits. Evidently, their marriage vow of "till death do us part" means they can part at the death of their love for their spouse rather than at their physical death. 

Can anyone really comprehend "unconditional" love? It seems the love that parents have for their children is as close to unconditional love as we can get without the help of God's love in our lives. We continue to love our children through good times and bad, and we don't stop loving them if they don't meet the expectations we may have for them. We make a choice to love our children even when we consider them unlovable; our love doesn't stop when we don't "feel" love for them. This is similar to God's love for us, but as we shall see, God's love transcends the human definition of love to a point that is hard for us to comprehend.

God Passionate Love:

What does God think about when He thinks about you? When God meditates on you in His heart, what does He feel? When God focuses His eyes on your soul, what does He see? When God opens His mouth to speak of you, what does He say?

Perhaps many of you would answer those questions like this: He thinks badly of me; He feels repelled by me. He sees all my ugliness, and He says, Yuck!

Nothing could be further from the truth! Notwithstanding what you have been told in the past or what you may feel in the present, when God thinks about you, feels for you, and sees you, He opens His mouth and sings with inexpressible joy!

God's love for you is so infinitely intense that He quite literally sings for joy. The depth of His affection is such that mere words prove paltry and inadequate. So profoundly intimate is God's devotion to you that He bursts forth in sacred song.

I'm talking about you. That's right, you, not just all the other people reading this article. I'm talking about each and every one of you who is convinced that no matter how many times I tell you God loves you, still you imagine He must have someone else in mind.

No, He has you in mind. You may say, "But, Sam, you don't know anything about me. You don't know how ugly I am.

"You've never been around when I've failed, asked forgiveness and then failed again 10 seconds later. You don't know how poor a wife I've been to my husband. You've never seen me blow it with my kids, losing my temper and breaking their spirits."

But I don't need to know you. I need to know only God! The issue here isn't who you are or what you've done. It's strictly a matter of who God is—of His character and His determination to love you. Nothing else matters.

Take a look at Zephaniah 3:17. Observe how it has been translated:

• "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing" (KJV).

• "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing" (NIV).

• "The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy" (NAS).

After careful study of this verse I've come up with my own paraphrase. It's not a word-for-word translation, but a free and expanded rendering of what I think the author had in mind. The original Hebrew text isn't as clear-cut as we might hope, and others may differ with my interpretation. But I feel confident that my version will stand up to the scrutiny of study:

The Lord your God is with you all the time. He's your strong and victorious hero. He is a powerful and mighty warrior who saves you. When He thinks of you He exults in festive pleasure and with great delight. At other times He becomes quiet as He reflects on His deep affection for you. He celebrates who you are with joyful singing.

Any way you read it the verse is stunning. Its force is unmistakable. If ever there were a Scripture worth committing to memory, this is it. It has rightly been called the John 3:16 of the Old Testament.

Hear what it says about God's presence. He is always with you. He is right where you are, no matter where that may be.

Moreover, the God who is present with you is also a God of unlimited power. He is a mighty warrior—your champion who fights on your behalf.