God Is Love
Understanding the Core of God's Character
The statement “God is love” is one of the most profound truths found in the Bible. It’s not just a description of how God acts but a declaration of who He is. Love is not just something God does; love is His nature.
God Is Love – A Biblical Statement
The Bible says plainly:
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. I John 4:8
Echoed again in
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16
These verses are clear. Love isn’t just one of God’s many attributes. It’s central to everything about Him. Every action God takes flows from His love–whether it’s mercy, justice, correction, or grace.
The Meaning of Love – The Greek Word Agape
The New Testament uses the Greek word “agape” in noun or verb form 259 times.
What is Agape?
“Agape” is unconditional, self-sacrificial love.
It’s not based on feelings or emotions.
It seeks the highest good of others, regardless of whether they deserve it.
This kind of love is best seen in John 3:16, where God the Father gives His only son because God so loved the world.
God’s love moves Him to give, even when humanity doesn’t deserve it. It’s not about merit. It’s about God’s choice to love.
In Romans 5:8, God shows His love for us so that Jesus dies for the ungodly, without strength, who were still sinning.
This shows that God’s love starts with Him, not with anything good in us.
God’s Love vs. Human Love
Humans love, but not like God does. The New Testament used the word “phileo,” or brotherly love, affection, friendship, and warmth, 25 times. Jesus’s love for Lazarus as a true friend exemplifies this.
A very rare word for love is “storage,” which refers to natural affection, like a parent loving their child. The New Testament uses the word in its different forms two or three times.
Interestingly, there is another word for love in Greek, eros. The New Testament does not use it. “Eros” is for romantic or passionate love. It is desire-based love, involving possessing or craving a person’s satisfaction.
The New Testament deliberately avoids using “eros,” even though it was very common in Greek thought. “Eros” was not evil as love, but at its root was self, while God’s love is selfless love. God’s love is not like anything we know as humans. It is not based on need or desire but on God’s very nature.
Let’s break down the key differences.
1. Conditional vs. Unconditional
Human love often depends on conditions.
Example: “I love you because you’re good to me.”
God’s love is unconditional.
Example: God loves people even when they sin.
2. Emotional vs. Volitional
Feelings can drive human love.
It can fade or grow depending on circumstances.
God’s love is based on His will.
He chooses to love, regardless of how we respond.
3. Self-centered vs. Self-sacrificial
Human love can seek something in return.
It can be about what we get.
God’s love gives, expecting nothing in return.
Jesus didn’t get love back from everyone on the cross, yet He still gave.
4. Limited vs. Infinite
Human love has limits.
People get tired, angry, or give up.
God’s love is endless.
Psalm 136 repeats: “His love endures forever.”
5. Changing vs. Unchanging
Human love can change over time.
God’s love doesn’t change. James 1:17
The Depth of Agape Love
Agape love is not passive. It’s active. It moves God to act in history, personal lives, and eternity.
God’s Agape Love:
Creates: God made humans out of love.
Redeems: He sent Jesus to save.
Sustains: He cares daily for His people.
Disciplines, chastens, trains, educates, instructs, and teaches
Promises Eternal Life: His love is not just for now but forever.
Agape love is used in 1 Corinthians 13, often called the “love chapter.“ While this chapter is frequently used at weddings, it’s originally about God’s kind of love—the kind we’re called to show, but that comes from God Himself.
Here’s a summary from 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:
Love is patient and kind, not envious or boastful, and not proud.
It doesn’t dishonor, isn’t self-seeking, and is not easily angered.
Keeps no record of wrongs.
Doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices in truth.
Always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres.
This is a picture of agape.
Love in Action – Jesus as the Ultimate Example
Jesus is the living example of God’s love.
John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
1 John 3:16: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
God’s love shows up in sacrifice, service, and forgiveness.
Conclusion: Living in God’s Love
To say “God is love“ means that every interaction with God is touched by love – His justice, mercy, and patience.
God’s love is perfect, pure, and permanent. Human love can’t compare unless He transforms it. The goal is not just to receive His love, but to reflect it.
Sure, here’s a poem that captures the essence of “God is love” as you’ve outlined:
God Is Love
Not just what He does, but who He is,
Love flows from Him—it’s always His.
No shifting mood, no selfish aim,
Love everlasting, always the same.
Not earned, not bought, not lost in sin,
Agape starts and ends with Him.
Unmoved by merit, untouched by pride,
Love gave His Son, the crucified.
While we were weak, and far from right,
His love still reached into our night.
No conditions, no demands,
Just mercy held in nail-scarred hands.
His justice, fierce, is love made plain,
His mercy, too, in joy or pain.
Correction flows from care so deep,
A Shepherd guarding wayward sheep.
We love, but not like this, not quite—
Our hearts grow cold, we lose the fight.
But God’s love stands, it does not fade,
In Him, the truest love is made.
Not passion’s fire or friendship’s bond,
But selfless love that goes beyond.
It gives, it stays, it bears, it mends,
It has no start, it knows no end.
So let us live within His heart,
And from His love, not drift apart.
To know, to trust, to give, to be—
In God, in love, eternally.