Love

L is for Love

Definition- Benevolence; good will  

 

Love has many meanings, but today I will be addressing the noun and answering the question; What is love?

 

There are many who talk about the love of God, who are total strangers to the God of love. The divine love is commonly regarded as a species of amiable weakness, a sort of good-natured indulgence; it is reduced to a mere sickly sentiment, patterned after human emotion. The truth is that on this, as on everything else, our thoughts need to be formed and regulated by what is revealed in Scripture. That there is urgent need for this is apparent not only from the ignorance which so generally prevails, but also from the low state of spirituality which is now so sadly evident everywhere among professing Christians. How little real love there is for God. One chief reason for this is because our hearts are so little occupied with His wondrous love for His people. The better we are acquainted with His love—its character, fullness, blessedness—the more our hearts will be drawn out in love to Him.  A.W. Pink

What does the Bible say?

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

1 John 4:8 The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

John 4:19-20 We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

Proverbs 8:17  I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. 

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved

1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Personally......

I grew up in a home full of conditions. Love and acceptance were not freely given, there was always a catch. If I was good then I was accepted and loved, if I did something wrong I was shunned and affection was withdrawn from me. When I came to understand God's unconditional love it was very hard for me to even grasp. It took me years to break down the constant pull to do good so that I would be loved and accepted. Today I know that I am fully loved and accepted by God because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. I no longer need the approval of men but seek only to please God by obeying His Word. 

How Deep is You Love  performed by Sovereign Grace