God loves you!
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16 ESV)
The world’s definition of love
It has been said that you can find out how a people group thinks on just about any subject by listening to the songs they sing. The following is a sampling of American love song titles over the years. You’ve probably heard some of them and when you read the titles you will probably remember some of their words.
- Everybody loves my baby (1924)
- Love me tender (1956)
- To know him is to love him (1958)
- Baby Love (1964)
- You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling (1965)
- I think I love you (1970)
- Love Hangover (1976
- What’s love got to do with it? (1984)
- Justify My Love (1991)
- Crazy in love (2003)
- We Found Love (2011)
- Love lies (2017)
- The end of love (2018)
With so many strange songs about love, no wonder there is so much confusion about what love is. Frankly, human definitions about love are inadequate and misleading. The Bible defines love correctly.
The Bible definition of love
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor 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 Cor. 13:4-8 NIV)
God alone is the source of love
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8 NIV)
God is love
God does not merely love; he is love. Everything that God does flows from his love.
“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8 ESV)
God’s kind of love
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 John 3:1 NIV)
He shows His love for us
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8 ESV)
Therefore…
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:37-39 ESV)