God is Loving
This third post of my 'God is' series will be looking at the love of God. I want to emphasize that my aim is to explore the biblical observation that a part of God's personality is that He is loving, not that God is only loving.
I hear a lot, from many, many people, that 'God is love'. They declare this happily, joyfully and... finally. And, of course, one way of looking at that statement is that God created love and love comes from God. Which I completely agree with. God's love is an awesome, amazing, miraculous part of Him. What worries me, however, is that a lot of people fall into the trap of believing that God is only loving and then they disregard all of God's other personality traits. I think that a lot of people do this, because they believe that it will make their lives easier; that their relationships with God will be stronger and more enjoyable if they accept this part of who He is, without searching for anything else from Him. This is a dangerous thing to do, as it reflects a wholly false picture of who our Father really is.
The rest of this series will go into great detail about many other aspects of who God is and what the Bible says about Him. Some of these personality traits paint a very loving picture of God and some of them paint a very real picture of Him. The fact that he can be jealous, that he gets angry, that he brings justice and that he is righteous. So please, do not be one of those people who never get to know who God really is. Go into your faith with your eyes wide open.
As I said before, God's love is an awesome blessing to us. He doesn't love us because He has to or only when we are acting a certain way. His love is unconditional, pure and a free gift. We do not have to earn God's love or to love God before He will then love us. He loves us because He chooses to, because He created us and takes great delight in who we could be.
The scriptures below, highlight the different aspects of the ways in which God loves and how His love impacts us. You will notice that some of the scriptures are repeated, under different subheadings, and that is because their message is relevant in each area.
A Father's love
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"
1 John 3:1
'"Therefore, come out from them and be separate", says the Lord. "Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters"'.
2 Corinthians 6:17-18
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son".
John 3:16-18
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us".
Romans 5:6-8
Proverbs 3:12
His love is fighting for our good
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance".
2 Peter 3:9
"For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!".
Ezekiel 18:32
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2:4-5
"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?".
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son".
John 3:16-18
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us".
Romans 5:6-8
"This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And brothers and sisters, if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth".
1 John 3: 16-18
"The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing".
Zephaniah 3:17
His love is faithful
"Know that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments".
Deuteronomy 7:9
"God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them".
Hebrews 6:10
John 3:16-18
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us".
Romans 5:6-8
"This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And brothers and sisters, if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth".
1 John 3:16-18
"But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness".
Psalm 86: 15
"Give thanks to the God of gods, His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever".
Psalm 136: 2-3
"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 of creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord".
Romans 8: 38-39
His love makes us better
"This is how we know that we love the children of God; by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands".
1 John 5: 2-3
His love is His gift to us
"And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us".
Romans 5:5
These scriptures reveal that God's love is a free gift. It is special and loving like a Father's love. It is fighting for our good. It is proof of his faithfulness. It makes us better people. What amazing things to be grateful for! God can and will do so much in you, so much more than you ever imagined possible, with His love, if you will let him. If you would understand that He is loving, but that He is also righteous.
One last thing that I want to clarify, God does and will always love you. But His love does not equal salvation. For as much as God loves you and longs for you to be saved, He does not and can never love your sin. And sin is what can keep you from Him, if you do not come to true repentance. If you do not ask for forgiveness, when you have done wrong, and do not turn away from your sin and strive to live a righteous life. If you do not do these things He will not allow you into Heaven. It really is as simple as that.
So, the Bible's advice? Make repentance a part of your daily life, repent every time you know you have sinned. Get baptised in water so that your old, sinful self dies and you rise a new person. Get baptised in The Holy Spirit and speak in your new spiritual language; listening to how the spirit is directing you in God's will, and then do it!
God NEEDS relationship with us, in order to truly set us free. So cherish his love, cherish his scolding, cherish his redirection, cherish his desires for you. Do not let yourself limit who He is.
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