God’s love in the Bible is one of the most amazing topics the human mind can study.
This time I intend to share with you a complete study on the most frequently asked questions that people ask themselves about God’s love.
I hope it will be a blessing for your life, contribute to your spiritual growth and bring you closer to the heart of God.
Let’s start by talking about what is said about God’s love in the Bible.
What does the Bible say of God’s love for us?
Below I will share some statements about what the Bible says about God’s love with their respective texts to endure them.
– Love is the essence of God’s character.
↑ 1 John 4:16, 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 ↑
God takes the initiative to love us, even when we do not love Him.
^ Deuteronomy 7:7-8; 1 John 4:16 ; Hosea 11:4, John 15:9, 1 John 4:10 ↑
– God’s love for us is great, immense, immeasurable.
^ Ephesians 3:17-19, Psalm 13:5-6; Psalm 36:5-7; Psalm 33:20-22; Psalm 52:8 ; Psalm 86:5; Psalm 86:12-15; Psalm 138:8; Psalm 143:8; Psalm 143:12; Psalm 145:8 ↑
– God’s love is unconditional.
^ Isaiah 54:10; Romans 5:8, Romans 8:37-39 ↑
– God’s love for us is eternal.
↑ Jeremiah 31:3 ↑
– God’s love is inexhaustible.
↑ Lamentations 3:22-23, John 13:1 ↑
– God does not deny us His love.
↑ Psalm 66:20 ↑
We can ask God to help us or teach us to experience His love for us.
↑ Psalm 42:8, 2 Thessalonians 3:5 ↑
– It is thanks to Jesus Christ, through whom fallen humanity has access to the love of God.
↑ John 16:26-27, 1 John 4:10 , 1 John 4:9, Ephesians 2:4-5 ↑
– God’s love makes us valuable in his eyes.
^ Isaiah 43:4; Isaiah 49:15-16 ↑
God’s love is able to give everything for us, including the very life of Jesus Christ as a ransom for our sins.
^ John 3:16 ; John 15:13 ; Ephesians 5:25-26, Isaiah 53:5, 2 Corinthians 8:9 ↑
– Experiencing God’s love in our lives implies that we obey His loving and wise counsel.
^ John 14:23 ; John 14:21 ; Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalm 97:10 ↑
– God loves us so much that He forgives us promptly.
^ Psalm 30:5; Psalm 86:5; Micah 7:18 ↑
God’s love inspires us to do our best for Him.
^ Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:14; Psalm 63:3 ↑
– The Lord lovingly corrects us because He wants the best for us.
↑ Hebrews 12:6 ↑
God’s love for us is comparable, humanly speaking, to that of a father for his children.
↑ Psalm 103:13, 1 John 3:1 ↑
– God’s love makes him want to help us and give us the best for us, and to give the best to others.
↑ Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 29:11, Zephaniah 3:17, Romans 8:31-32, 1 Corinthians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 2:16, John 15:12 ↑
What is God’s Love According to the Bible
According to my understanding of biblical teaching, it is not possible to define God’s love as something separate from Him.
The Bible teaches that God is the very embodiment of love. { 1 John 4:8 }
God’s love in the Bible is not simply a characteristic or quality of God, love is defined in one person, God Himself. Thus, love and God are inseparable.
Everything God does is an expression of His person, and everything God does in Himself is love.
According to God’s word, God is the source of love, and the love of the creator is an infinite and unconditional love, which is not conditioned by the limitations to which sin subjected human expressions of love.
God’s love in the Bible is so perfect and unconditional that He is able to give everything for us, even if we do not deserve or reciprocate it, as He demonstrated on the Cross of Calvary.
Why God is said to be love
As mentioned in the previous part of this publication, God is said to be love because the Bible itself says it that exactly in 1 John 4:8.
The Bible not only says that God is “loving,” referring to a quality or attitude of his, but it says that God is love, which means that God and true love are one and the same.
What this means is that:
God is the source of all true love. Love cannot be defined except in the light of God’s loving, perfectly pure and completely noble actions.
How great is God’s love
There are numerous biblical texts that reiterate to us again and again that God’s love is great and immeasurable.
However, to answer how great God’s love is, it is necessary to refer to the Bible, more accurately in Ephesians 3:18-19, where we are told that “the breadth, length, height, and depth” of God’s love “surpasses all knowledge.”
What this means is that God’s love is so immense and unlimited that it is impossible for the human mind to comprehend.
A love that the Bible catalogs as inexhaustible, eternal and using deductive reasoning, we could catalog as infinite.
That’s how great God’s love is.
What God’s love for us is like
A good characterization of what God’s love for us is like in the Bible, we find it in 1 Corinthians 13, where scripture tells us that love, God Himself, is patient and kind, is not envious or proud.
It tells us that God’s love never behaves rude, is not materialistic, or gets angry easily.
It also affirms to us that God’s love does not hold a grudge, nor does it delight in evil, on the contrary it rejoices in justice.
It also tells us that God’s love forgives everything, expects everything, and is able to endure everything for us.
It also makes it clear to us that God’s love for us is extinguished.
Such scripture also tells us that God’s love for us is like a perfect father’s love for a child.
How God’s Love Can Be Felt
According to what is said of God’s love in the Bible, to feel His love we can ask God to reveal it to us and help us understand it privately and intimately. { Psalm 42:8, 2 Thessalonians 3:5 }
When we ask God this in prayer, the holy spirit leads us through an inner process in which he reveals to us the important truth that we are infinitely and unconditionally loved by God, which transforms our reality forever.
Understanding God’s love for us is one of the main steps in that process.
Jesus explained to us through the parable of the prodigal son that God’s love for us is like that of a father who unconditionally loves his son, even if he is rebellious and makes mistakes.
When we understand that there is nothing we can do to lose God’s love, then it is His love that transforms us from within, making us reciprocate that love through our obedience.
Another way to feel God’s love is when God corrects us. { Hebrews 12:6 }
Although being loved by God is almost always a pleasurable experience, there will also be times when God will lovingly discipline us to lead us on the best path.
In those moments we should not think that God has abandoned us, or that He does not love us, on the contrary, we should thank Him for His loving interest in our salvation and holiness.
How God’s Love Manifests in Our Lives
God’s love in our lives manifests itself in infinite ways, from creation and nature, to His generous provision for our daily needs.
One particular way God’s love manifests itself in our lives is that God loves us so much that he wants the best for us, and he wants to give us the best as a loving father to his children {Matthew 7:11}.
So God’s love makes him want to help us and give us the best for us.
Additionally, we can feel daily in our being God’s infinite love for us like a small fire that burns within us warming the cold of our soul.
The most wonderful experience a person can experience is perceiving the work of the holy spirit, constantly pouring God’s love into his heart. { Romans 5:5 }
Another of the many ways God’s love manifests itself in our lives is through His generous forgiveness for all our mistakes, which is bestowed upon us through and thanks to the merits of Jesus Christ, our Savior. { Psalm 30:5 ; Psalm 86:5; Micah 7:18 }
How to Live in God’s Love
The Bible is clear in pointing out that to live in God’s love it is necessary to obey His loving and wise counsel. { 1 John 2:5, John 14:23, John 14:21, Deuteronomy 7:9, Psalm 97:10 }
This is not because God’s love for us is conditioned on our obedience, but it is through obedience to God that we enjoy the good things He has to give us, while it is because of disobedience that we turn away from Him and suffer the consequences of sin.
God has placed at our disposal an endless number of blessings and kindnesses that show us his love, which we can access by following his loving instructions.
If we choose to follow them, we will enjoy the manifestations of Their love, if we turn away from them we will suffer the manifestations of sin.
Characteristics of God’s Love in the Bible
There are many characteristics of God’s love revealed in Scripture, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 for example, gives us the following:
| Patient | He doesn’t hold a grudge |
| Kind | Does not delight in evil |
| Not envious | Everything apologizes |
| Not boastful | He believes everything |
| Not proud | Everything awaits |
| Does not behave rudely | Everything supports |
| It’s not selfish | It never goes extinct |
| Doesn’t get angry easily |
Some other characteristics of God’s love in the Bible are as follows:
– Take the initiative { 1 John 4:10 }
– It is immeasurable { Ephesians 3:17-19 }
– It is unconditional { Romans 5:8 }
– It is eternal { Jeremiah 31:3 }
– It is inexhaustible { Lamentations 3:22-23, John 13:1 }
– He Does Not Refuse to Love { Psalm 66:20 }
– It makes us all valuable { Isaiah 43:4 ; Isaiah 49:15-16 }
– He is able to give everything for us { John 3:16 }
Benefits of God’s Love in the Bible
The benefits of God’s love in the Bible are countless, this time I would like to share with you some of them:
– Freely grants us salvation through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:4-5
– It fills our heart, gives meaning to our life and heals the wounds of our soul. Psalm 147:3
– It makes us feel valuable. Isaiah 43:4
– He forgives us when we sincerely repent. 1 John 1:9
– It comforts and strengthens us in difficult times. Isaiah 41:10
– He wants to give us the best. Jeremiah 29:11
Reflection on God’s love for men
Throughout history, human beings have done terrible things.
One of the ones that has impressed me the most was an event that occurred not long ago, in the year of 1937, known as the Nanjing Massacre or Rape.
There is a full article on Wikipedia in Spanish, and another in English, referring to the atrocities committed by a division of the Imperial Japanese Army against Chinese civilians in the city of Nanjing.
Things ranging from massacres and rapes of children, to cannibalism or forcing innocent people to commit incest.
The following lines are going to be horrible to read, and can hurt sensibilities; they are not suitable for all audiences.
I will dare to illustrate to you the magnitude of what happened with just some of the testimonies of the people who were there living what happened.
This in order that you can with me see within the human heart and fully understand the subject of God’s love, which I want to deal with today.
“The seventh and last person in the front row was a pregnant woman. The soldier thought that he might well rape her before killing her, so he took her out of the group to a place about ten meters away. While trying to rape her, the woman fiercely resisted… The soldier stabbed her abruptly in the belly with a bayonet. She gave a final scream as her intestines spilled out. Then the soldier stabbed the fetus, with its umbilical cord clearly visible, and threw it aside.”
“Women were often killed immediately after being raped by mutilation (cutting their breasts) or by stabbing them either with the same bayonet or with long bamboo sticks or other sharp objects that were inserted into the vagina of the victims so that they would end up bleeding. In the case of pregnant women after rape, they often bayoneted themselves in the belly, made open cuts and tore the uterus to remove the fetus. There are witnesses who remember Japanese soldiers throwing babies into the air to capture them with their bayonets.”
“There are also accounts of Japanese troops forcing families to commit acts of incest. Sons forced to rape their mothers, fathers forced to rape their daughters. In turn, monks who had devoted themselves to a life of celibacy were also forced to commit rape and have sex with each other, much to the amusement of the Japanese army.”
Dr. Wilson, in another letter to his family: “They (the Japanese soldiers), bayoneted a child, causing his death. I spent an hour and a half this morning trying to heal another eight-year-old boy who had five bayonet wounds, one of which penetrated the stomach, causing a portion of the omentum to go out of the abdomen.”
The brutal killings of civilians are estimated at least 300,000 people, and the duration of the barbarism was only six weeks.
Why did the Japanese soldiers do this?
Basically, the reason sociologists give in studying the case is the fact that Japanese soldiers were tired, frustrated, bored, and disappointed.
This story falls short of the millions of atrocities committed by humanity on a daily basis.
Think of the number of horrific crimes committed today in a world of nearly eight billion people.
How does that make you feel?
When I reflect on how God feels about seeing humanity lost in sin and evil in such a way…
When I think about it, it comes to my mind, which is, in my opinion, the strangest and most incomprehensible verse in the Bible, which speaks precisely of God’s love.
Most likely you know it by heart, but today by the grace of God you will understand it in a complete way.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.
God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it through it.
| John 3:16-17
That’s right.
In my opinion, this verse about God’s love for mankind is the strangest and most incomprehensible in the Bible.
And you will say to me: Why Daniel?
Think of the Nankin Massacre, think of the Jewish Holocaust.
Reflect on what you saw yesterday in the news of your country.
Think about the evil things that go through your mind on a daily basis.
Analyze the sad things that happen in the house of one of your neighbors.
Think about the way you treat your family members, or how you behave about people in need.
What do you see?
I see evil, I see evil in my heart.
It is then that I consider that only god’s grace and mercy has allowed me not to fall prey to the evil that resides in me, and that he wants to control me to do things as heinous as the ones you read.
After consdering this idea, my question is how can God love me being as holy as he is, and being as bad as I am?
My question is how can God say that He loves so much a world so vile, full of murderers, thieves, rapists, pedophiles, liars, manipulators, unscrupulous, lewd, intolerant and selfish people?
How can God not only say that He loves that world, but also show that He loves it so much that He gave His own Son as a sacrifice so that all, absolutely all the people who have stepped on this planet, could have access to repentance, forgiveness of their sins, salvation, and eternal life?
How?
How can you love in that way something as perverted, horrible and grotesque as humanity?
Although I don’t understand if I know the answer.
(…) God is love. (…)
| 1 John 4:8
I don’t get it. But that’s the truth.
God is love.
That is God’s love.
God’s love is unconditional, He doesn’t love you depending on what you do or don’t do.
If we wanted to try to superficially approximate the magnitude of the Lord’s love, we would say that He loves us as a mother or father loves a criminal child.
I don’t know what you’ve been doing with your life, I don’t know what you were doing yesterday, what you plan to do today.
However, I know there is some evil in it.
But I also know something else.
God loves you unconditionally no matter what you have done or will do in the future.
Jesus gave His life, not so that the saints and best behaved of the human race might have the opportunity to receive forgiveness.
No.
He gave his life so that people like the Japanese soldiers who perpetrated the Nankin Massacre could have access to repentance and salvation.
Because in God’s eyes, all human beings are not only equally sinners, but we are equally loved.
That’s not to say that God, because God loves you, so He agrees that you do whatever you want He’s going to save you.
No.
By contrast, even if you feel like an blameless person, I must tell you that only Jesus’ sacrifice makes god see you justified.
Accept God’s infinite love and supreme grace, I promise you that your life will never be the same again.
It is time to accept Christ’s sacrifice in your life and in your heart and allow his holy spirit to change the old for the new.
It is time to live in the glory of his presence, in the joy of freedom from sin and the ineffable joy of his forgiveness.
What can you share with us about God’s love in the Bible? Share a comment.
Blessings and a hug.
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