Parts one through four covered:
How love is defined
Why love is important
How love can be expressed
And now to talk about the original love, which is actually the best love there is! As mentioned previously, “God is love,” but not only is God love, He was the first to ever love. Loving (someone) is indeed a part of God’s nature, along with other attributes such as being just, sovereign, faithful, gracious, kind, etc. God exists in love. We can see that God is the first to love, because God is the first being to exist (He’s the Creator of everything and everyone else). Jesus has also always existed with God, along with the Holy Spirit, as they make up what is known or believed as the “Godhead” or the “Trinity" [John 1:1, Colossians 1:15, Colossians 2:9, John 10:30]. God has always loved because He always had a son (Jesus), to love. In Matthew 3:17, God explicitly says during Jesus’ baptism, that “this is My son, whom I love, and am well pleased.” Now keep in mind, that was before Jesus did any public ministry. So, from this we can infer that God loves us without us working to earn it. Jesus had God’s love before He became popular in the inner-cities and towns. So, if God loved Jesus before anything, how much more did He love us before we did anything to even please Him? If God loves Jesus, Who is His begotten son (due to the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary, a miraculous conception), how much more does He love us right now? People who (through Jesus), have the right to be adopted as God’s sons and daughters [Ephesians 1:4-5, Galatians 3:26, 1 John 3:1]? God's love allows us the chance to become adopted into His family and Kingdom!
In addition to this, not only does God love Jesus, resulting in Him loving us also, but God actually loves us through Jesus Himself [Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:19].
**1 John 4:19 says, “We love, because He first loved us.”
God was the first to love, and so that makes His love the best. God’s love is unconditional, meaning that He loves just because that is Who He is. His love for you is not determined by the conditions of our relationship with Him, our past, our future, or the conditions we find ourselves in right now. One thing that’s hard for us to grasp simply because we’re human beings, is that God does not require us to work to earn His love. In our society, we may have to work to earn the love of our parents, friends, and to even be accepted by others around us. God’s love has nothing to do with what you’ve done, but who you are in His eyes [2 Corinthians 5:20-21]. God sees you as one of His most valuable creations [Luke 12:7, Matthew 12:12,
God’s unconditional love makes room for us to always go to Him (1 Peter 4:8).
In love, God even makes plans for us/chooses us/creates us→ Ephesians 1:4,
The book of “1 Corinthians” chapter 13, talks about what love is, or what love should be. 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 says, “4 Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. 5 It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. 6 It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. 7 Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up.”
God is the very representation of what love is. Therefore, God is patient, God is kind, God isn’t prideful, and God does not keep track of our wrongdoings when we repent and put our trust in Jesus.
So, because God shows us how we should love, His way of loving others is the best.
1 Corinthians 13:8 says “Love never comes to an end.” Another translation may say “Love never fails.” God’s love will last forever simply because God will last forever [Hebrews 13:18, Psalm 118:1]. Verse 13 says, “ So these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the best one of these is love.”
Another way we know that love is of God, is because it is a part of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit (evidence that God’s Spirit is in us/God’s character is now the way we conduct our lives) [2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:22-23]. God’s love is with Him, but always actively pursuing us, even every day [Lamentations 3:23]. Even though God is the best to love others unconditionally, if we have God in us, we can also learn to love others unconditionally. Now, this will be challenging at times because of our flesh’s motives and temporary feelings, but not impossible [Matthew 19:26].
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