As Christians, we are happy to embrace the concept that 'God is love', and indeed the love of God is a biblical truth.
"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 1 John 4:8
The difficulty is that our understanding of love can be limited, or even wrongly understood. I've been thinking about how to understand God's love, and I will share some of the characteristics I have identified.
God's love is one attribute among many.
God is love, but not only love. It is true that God loves, but that is not the complete truth about God. If we assume that love is God's only attribute, then our understanding of God is always going to be flawed.
God's love is eternal.
Eternity is a tough concept to get your head round. We live in a world of beginnings and endings, but God's love has neither. It has always been, and will always be. It is everlasting, never ending, eternal.
"O give thanks unto The Lord, for he is good; for His mercy endure to for ever." Psalm 136:1
"The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3
God's love is changeless.
Human love can change so quickly. Love on the wedding day can turn to hate in the divorce courts. Resentment, disillusionment, disappointment can all chip away at love. But God's love isn't like that. God Himself is immutable, changeless, and so is His love.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comets down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of timing." James 1:17
"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it." Song of Solomon 8:7
God's love is sacrificial.
God's love has no element of selfishness. It is costly and sacrificial, and God paid the price willingly.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
