The Love of God

GOD IS LOVE

If you can convince a man that you love him, you have won his heart. Many times people think that God hates them, so they are continually running away from Him. But, it is the Word of God, gaining an entrance into a man’s heart that makes the difference. Satan had been trying to persuade men that God does not love them. He succeeded in making Adam and Eve, believe this lie. Very often he succeeds in doing so with us as well.

Mothers make the mistake of teaching their children that God does not love them when they do something wrong but He loves them only when they do the right thing. Even if your child is restless or disobedient, you don’t push him out as if he did not belong to you. You still love him because he is your child. In the same manner, if men have moved away from God, it does not mean that He hates them. He only hates the sin in them.

We love people as long as we consider them worthy of our love. God does not act this way. There is a vast difference between human love and divine love. Time and again we hear about the height and the depth of God’s love and we think that we know a lot about His love. But we know very little about it. This is a great ocean and we need to plunge into it to know about it.

If we want to know the love of God, we should go to the Calvary. That cross speaks of the love of God. Greater love has never been taught than that which the cross teaches us. What prompted God to give up Christ? What prompted Christ to die? except for the love He had for us.

Christ laid down His life for His enemies, for His murderers, and for those who hated Him. The essence of the cross is love. When Jesus was being mocked and ridiculed on the cross, He said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” There was nothing but love in His heart.

God’s love is eternal. Many who once loved you have perhaps grown cold in their affections and turned away from you. It may be that their love has changed or faded over time. This is not so with God. He loved us long before we even thought of Him.

Dear friends, let us love one another; for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us; He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Since God loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is made complete in us.