Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
God is love, this a fundamental trusim 1 John 4:8; this is not a romantic love, but a much deeper love, a holiness, righteousness, faithful, trustworthy and, yes, a fearfulness “Through fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). A love so deep that he sacrificed his one and only son for sinful, and faithless us (John 3:16). This is a vast topic, to big to summarise here. So let’s look just a few aspects of love.
What is “Love”? Having looked at my Bible, my trusty Harper Colins Bible Dictionary (HCBD), my Lion Book of the Bible, dictionary.com and Google, I can still say I don’t know. Most of the above references say, there are two types of love. Agape and Philia.
- Agape, (according to the HCBD), when used to refer to God is the unmerited love God shows to mankind in sending his son as a suffering Redemeer. When used of human love, it means selfless and self-giving love.
- Philia (or eros), is sexual love, and as far as I can tell from my researches it only applies to mankind??
In the passage above we can substitute “God” is patient, kind, does not envy nor boast, he is not proud (in fact he opposes the proud (Jamesm 4:6)) He does not dishonour us rather “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) this also shows He is not self seeking. He is not easily angered (Exodus 34:6). He keeps no records of wrongs “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12). God is Holy (Isaiah 6:3) so can not even tolerate the presence of evil, nor can He lie. So we can see God is the very definition of love.
Even before God sent Jesus as sacrifice for our redemption, when we were “Dead in our sins” God still loved us, he loved us so much that he “gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). We are made in the Image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), so our aim is to love as God loves us. or as Jesus puts it:-
‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’
Matthew 22:37-40
God is so wonderful, so marvellous, so indescribably Agapian. God IS LOVE and He LOVES US and LOVE NEVER FAILS.
