THE LOVE OF GOD

By Greg Jolley
Christian Community Church
                                                           
   I remember as a child hearing the phrase, “For the love of God." Believe me, I didn’t hear this in a spiritual setting, but I often pondered what it truly meant.

   After becoming a Christian, I would hear about God’s love in church services, Bible studies, etc. It was not until I had been a Christian for some time that I really began to understand the depths and meaning of God’s love and how different it is from what mankind has come to know as love.

   As we come to understand how powerful God is and learn more about Him, it becomes easier to see things from His perspective, and less from our own. I believe this applies to any of God’s special qualities that are stated and demonstrated throughout the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments.  In Galatians 5:22, the Apostle Paul speaks of the Fruits of God’s Holy Spirit being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. God is the ultimate of all of these qualities and others as well, such as wisdom.

   In 1 Corinthians 1:25 the Apostle Paul tells us, "for the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”  The same understanding applies to the quality of God’s love. No other human can love us as much, as purely, or in the way that God loves us.

   The dictionary defines love as; to regard with affection, to like, to delight in, warm or fond attachment etc. As we seek to understand God’s love for us, we begin to see a love that is not conditional upon a particular feeling or emotional response He has at a given time. In comparing God's flawless love to the love known by mankind, we see God's love is unchanging and everlasting, distinguished and guided by principles such as love of righteousness and obedience.  A great example of God's love was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who became the Apostle Paul. We know that Paul was at the forefront of the persecution of Christians, until God converted him and changed his heart.

   In Mathew 5:44, Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us…period.  This not based on being loved back, what a person can do for us, or what they may mean to us, but we are to love unconditionally.  As humans, this can be a very difficult task for us.  Our love is most often conditional and based on emotionalism.  Man’s love can be well intended, but misguided.  An example is as parents having affection for our children.  A parent’s love can deteriorate or become misguided by sentimentality.  We may think we show love to our children by not disciplining them when required, yet deny them nothing else.  Discipline has always gone hand in hand with God's perfect love.  God’s Word tells us that we don’t love our children if we don’t discipline them. Proverbs 13:24.  It also tells us that God disciplines those He loves.  Proverbs 3:11-12, Hebrews 12:5-11, Revelation 3:19. 

   This is not to say that God’s love does not have a warmth, affection or fondness, but God’s love is guided by principle, and is action oriented, compared to the love of mankind. The highest and truest form of love comes from God. Understanding who God is and having knowledge of His purposes, gives our love more of a principled basis, keeping it from being misdirected.   We know that love is a primary quality of the heart. But if the mind is not equipped with the understanding of what true love is and how it should be expressed, the love of the heart can be misdirected.

   As we learn more about God’s love, we also come to a better understanding of how God can love sinners like us, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23.  And it is only God's love, demonstrated by His Son Jesus dying on the cross for your sins and mine that we can be saved.   Romans 5:8