THE LOVE OF GOD

"He takes great delight in you; He renews you by His love; He shouts for joy over you." Zephaniah 3:17

Love is spoken about often in our society, and rightfully so. However, the world's interpretation of love is quite different from what is in reality and defined in the scripture. 

Our view of love is quite narrow and we tend to craft our image of God in our terms of what we see love is. And yet, "God is love." (I John 4:8), not "love is God". He is the author, definition of truest example of genuine love. We must allow God to define Himself rather than our subjective and errant human thought. We will only give a enhanced replication of ourselves, which is woefully incomplete and misinformed. 

His love involves all that He is. No attribute of God's trumps any other attribute nor do they contradict. His love involves His goodness, kindness and grace as much His holiness, justice and wrath. His love transcends our understanding and yet He desires that we know and experience it. Look at how He speaks of it, in experiential terms: 

His love is expressed as a father. "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1

His love is expressed as a mother. "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you." Isaiah 66:13

"Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!" Isaiah 49:15

His love is expressed as a passionate bridegroom. 
"As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, so your God will rejoice over you." Isaiah 62:5

"Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love." Song of Solomon 2:4

We also see in Hosea we see His love as a husband committed to love an adulteress wife. Hosea 3:1. 

His love is expressed as a shepherd. "Like a shepherd He tends His flock; He gathers up the lambs with his arm; He carries them close to His heart; He leads the ewes along."
Isa 40:11

We are the "apple of His eye." Zechariah 2:8

His love towards us is great.
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us," Ephesians 2:4

One commonly known scripture speaks even further in depth of His love. 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. " John 3:16

What do we see of His love here? 
It desires the best for the other. Our best is to forgiven, saved from Hell, a transformed heart and given Heaven with Him. 
It acts. "But God demonstrates His own love for us ..." Rom 5:8a
It takes the initiative. It acts first. We love because He loved us first." 1 John 4:19
It loves despite the previous actions of the other. " ... in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8b
It gives us a choice, an invitation. He allows love to be two way, reciprocating. We are fortunate to even have a choice to be His. 
It is relational. He desires for us to be His, constantly and committed. 
It is sacrificial. He paid the highest price possible for us, the life of His own Son. He is fully invested in us. "In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10
It is eternal. It is a forever love, never to diminish and without condition. A once for all commitment. "He will say to them, 'I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.'" Jeremiah 31:3

Love is so much of His character that the greatest commandment He has given us is to love Him with all of our being. The next is to love one another. Love is the very heart of God. It is lived out forever in the trinity. 

More Scriptures: 

Read 1 Corinthians 13. Substitute the word "love" with "God". 

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