“God is love.” —1 John 4:8
The Bible doesn’t merely tell us that God loves us. It gives us something much deeper to consider: God is love.
That means love is not simply one of the things God does. It is part of His very nature. It is who He is.
We often define love according to our experiences. For some people, love means affection and kindness. For others, it may mean sacrifice, acceptance, protection, or simply having someone who stays. These things can certainly be expressions of love, but none of them gives us the complete picture.
According to 1 Corinthians 13:4–7, the Bible teaches us that love is patient and kind. It is not driven by jealousy, pride, or the desire to put itself above others.
Love does not behave dishonorably, insist on getting its own way, or hold on to anger and past wrongs. It does not celebrate wrongdoing but finds joy in what is true.
Love chooses to protect, trust, hope, and persevere through difficulties. It is not easily defeated by circumstances because genuine love remains steadfast.
And these characteristics of love describe who God is.
God’s character is the standard by which we should understand love.
Our Experiences Can Distort Our Understanding of God
This is important because our experiences can distort our understanding of God.
Here is what I mean.
People who have experienced rejection may assume that God will eventually reject them too. They may avoid getting close to Him because they are afraid of experiencing rejection again.
Then there are those of us who have been abandoned by the people we loved the most.
Perhaps a parent walked away when we were young, leaving us wondering why we were not enough for them to stay. Maybe a spouse left, a close friend suddenly turned their back on us, or someone we trusted chose to walk away when we needed them most.
Sometimes abandonment comes through death, separation, rejection, or simply being left behind by someone we thought would always be there.
Whatever form it took, being abandoned can leave a deep wound in the heart. It can make us question our worth, struggle to trust others, or live with a constant fear that God will eventually leave too when life becomes difficult.
If you were raised in an environment where correction was harsh or unpredictable, you may also struggle to understand how God’s correction can come from love.
But God is not a reflection of the people who have hurt us.
He is not limited by their weaknesses, and His character does not change according to our experiences.
God’s Love Is Both Holy and Pure
Scripture reveals a God who is holy and just, yet merciful and compassionate.
He disciplines, but His discipline is not cruel. God corrects because He desires to bring us into what is good. He exposes sin because He wants to restore what sin has damaged.
This is why we must be careful when we interpret God’s actions.
We cannot take one aspect of His character and use it to cancel out the others. His holiness does not make Him unloving, and His love does not make Him indifferent toward sin.
God’s love is pure.
It does not flatter us by telling us that everything we do is acceptable. Instead, it cares enough to lead us toward truth, repentance, restoration, and life.
This becomes especially important when we go through difficult seasons.
There are times when circumstances seem to contradict everything we believe about God’s goodness. A prayer remains unanswered. A door closes. Someone we trusted walks away. Something we hoped would happen doesn’t happen.
We may find ourselves asking, If God really loves me, why is this happening?
Those questions are understandable.
But circumstances cannot always tell us what is true about God’s character.
There will be things in this life we do not understand. There will be prayers whose answers take longer than we expected, and there will be seasons when God’s presence seems harder to recognize.
None of those things change who He is.
When life becomes confusing, we need an anchor that is deeper than our circumstances.
That anchor is the character of God.
We may not understand what He is doing, but we can continue learning who He is. We may not know how a situation will unfold, but we can remember that His love has not changed simply because our circumstances have.
So when you find yourself questioning whether God loves you, don’t make your circumstances the final authority.
Go back to Scripture.
Look at His character and the way He has revealed Himself.
And above all, look at Jesus, because in Christ we see God’s love made visible.
Reflect
What experiences have influenced the way you understand love?
Are there areas where you may have unconsciously allowed those experiences to shape the way you see God?
Take some time to bring those experiences before God and ask Him to show you where your understanding of His love needs to be corrected by His Word.
Prayer
Father,
I want to know You as You truly are.
Help me recognize the ways my experiences have influenced the way I understand Your love. Where those experiences have given me a distorted picture of You, bring healing and truth.
Teach me to trust what You have revealed about Yourself through Your Word and through Jesus Christ.
Help me to know Your love not merely through what I have experienced from people but through who You have revealed Yourself to be.
Amen.
Truth to Remember
If you want to understand God’s love, begin by knowing the God who is love.