Have you ever asked this question: What is love?
Many think love is the emotional exchange that takes place between two people. Many others believe love is the bond that keeps a marriage, or a family together. While others believe the true test of love is when you have to give your life for someone else. I thought I knew what love was when I gave my heart to my wife over thirty years ago. I thought I knew what love was when I saw my sons for the first time. I thought I knew what love was when I had to say goodbye to my mom after she went to heaven the day before Mother’s Day.
I was reading in my devotional time and I came across this definition for love:
I John 4:10 – In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The Author of Love, the One where love exists from, says this is love. Not that you loved Him, but that He loved you. Not that you sought after Him, but that He was always seeking after you. Not that you gave up your life for Him, but that He gave up His life for you!
I found this a number of years ago that expresses to me the vast and unending wonder of the love of God:
Because God Loves Me (Written by Dick Dickinson)
Because God loves me, He is slow to lose patience with me.
Because God loves me, He takes the circumstances of my life and uses them in a constructive way for my growth.
Because God loves me, He does not treat me as an object to be possessed and manipulated.
Because God loves me, He has no need to impress me with how great and powerful He is because He is God, nor does He belittle me as His child in order to show me how important He is.
Because God loves me, He is for me. He wants to see me mature and develop in His love.
Because God loves me, He does not send down His wrath on every little mistake I make, of which there are many.
Because God loves me, He does not keep score of all my sins and then beat me over the head with them whenever He gets the chance.
Because God loves me, He is deeply grieved when I do not walk in the ways that please Him because He sees this as evidence that I don’t trust Him and love Him as I should.
Because God loves me, He rejoices when I experience His power and strength and stand up under the pressures of life for His Name’s sake.
Because God loves me, He keeps on working patiently with me, even when I feel like giving up and can’t see why He doesn’t give up with me, too.
Because God loves me, He never says there is no hope for me; rather, He patiently works with me, loves me and disciplines me in such a way that it is hard for me to understand the depth of His concern for me.
Because God loves me, He never forsakes me, even though many of my friends might.
Because God loves me, He stands with me when I have reached the rock bottom of despair, when I see the real me and compare that with His righteousness, holiness, beauty, and love. It is at a moment like this that I can really believe that God loves me.