Love. It is a word that we hear and use so often in our everyday lives that the common usage of the word has caused it to lose its true meaning. We say we love God, our family, our friends and at the same time we say we love our phones, the foods we eat, and countless other things. This might lead one to ask: what is love?
The answer to this question is simple, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Therefore, in order to know love we must know God and His true nature. In Genesis 1:1 it is written, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God chose to create the earth out of His love. He didn’t create the world and people so that we could love Him, He created everything as an expression of His love. Scripture is full of God’s love for His children, but the greatest example of His love is in the giving of His one and only Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (I John 4:9-10). God desired an intimate relationship with His children and sent His obedient Son, Jesus, to lay down his life so that we might live through Him (I John 4:9). This is love.
We have the ability to love because God first loved us (I John 4:19). We would not know love if it weren’t for God. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that we love all of the things we commonly enjoy. God’s definition of love is deeper than that. God’s love is a love that runs so deep that He was willing to give His only Son for our sins, it is a love that runs so deep that He is willing to leave the ninety-nine to go after the one who is lost (Matthew 18:12), and it is a love that runs so deep that He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). This is love. We were created in God’s love; He chose us, out of His love, to be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4). God’s love is for everyone and there is nothing like it. To be filled with God’s love is to know true love.
Take Action – Think about how often you find yourself saying that you “love” something. Do you think the common usage of the word “love” takes away from the true meaning of God’s love? Ask God to reveal to you His deeper meaning of love.
Meditate on Scripture – I John 4:10 (NIV) – This is love: not that we loved God, but that God loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Further Study – Read I John 3 and 4. It is only fitting that we should read about God’s love from the one who referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Love is a recurring theme in the writings of John.