Introduction
First of all, I want to say that I am writing this based on what the Bible says, and on my own experiences.
The Bible clearly says that God does not merely love, but HE IS love (✚1 John 4:8, 4:16). God’s essence is love. I myself think that if you do not want God’s love, then you do not want anything. There is still love in the world, so the world is not corrupted on that basis. There are different forms of love, but God’s love is Agape love (✚John 3:16; ✚Rom. 5:8).
Why Is God Love?
Could you imagine that the Creator of the universe would be evil? If the Creator were evil, then no one would have any hope. I can tell you that God is NOT evil (✚Ps. 100:5; ✚James 1:13, 1:17). That is a great comfort to humankind. In Jesus, God did the work by which God’s love came to be the share of everyone (✚1 John 4:9–10). Jesus took the suffering that belongs to people (✚Isa. 53:4–5; ✚1 Pet. 2:24).
God is love because the Creator of the universe is love. There cannot be anything greater than love (✚1 Cor. 13:13). The Bible tells what love is (✚1 Cor. 13:4–8). You have probably loved something at some point? If you have not, God loves you anyway (✚Rom. 5:8). You can experience God’s love (✚Eph. 3:17–19). I myself did not experience much love when I was younger, but when I experienced God’s love, it changed me. When God loves, one can love others (✚1 John 4:19). Love is powerful and it is hard to extinguish (✚Song 8:7). If you are not yet in the faith, then pray that God could fill you with love (✚Rom. 5:5). Repent of your sins, pray for rebirth and for the baptism of the Holy Spirit (✚Acts 2:38; ✚John 3:3–5; ✚Acts 1:5). Ask for forgiveness of sins (✚1 John 1:9), and when you pray, God fills you with love when you believe.
Why Did Jesus Bring Love into the World for All People?
Jesus of Nazareth was made sin, although He has never committed sin (✚2 Cor. 5:21). He lived in the world a perfect life without ever committing sin or mistakes (✚Heb. 4:15; ✚1 Pet. 2:22). That is something incomprehensible. Jesus is, however, a human, but at the same time also God (✚John 1:1, 1:14; ✚John 10:30). In prophecy it is said that Jesus is the Everlasting Father (✚Isa. 9:6)! The triune God cannot therefore be separated. There is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (✚Matt. 28:19).
Jesus brought the commandment of love (✚John 13:34; ✚John 15:12). Jesus commanded to love even the enemy (✚Matt. 5:44; ✚Luke 6:27). Even if you experienced someone as an enemy, by loving you can change the enemy into a brother. The enemy must be loved, whatever he may be. It is almost impossible without the Holy Spirit and God’s love (✚Rom. 5:5; ✚Gal. 5:22). In the world people love those who love them (✚Matt. 5:46; ✚Luke 6:32). A person can, however, also love those who do not love back (✚Luke 6:35). It is not a recommendation in the Bible but a commandment.
My Own Experience
I myself experienced God’s love stronly only a little before writing this article. I do not know why, but I had not prayed to be filled with God’s love, at least I do not remember. I experienced a transforming power in prayer. Something happened deep inside. I experienced immediately that I, as a disciple of Jesus, must live in love (✚John 13:35). To love even if I would not be loved back. Even if no one would love me, I feel God’s love in my bones. There is a transforming power in it. If you are in the faith, then pray that God would pour out His love into your heart and over you (✚Rom. 5:5). I can tell you that if you sincerely pray as a sheep of Jesus (✚John 10:27), you will receive that love (✚Luke 11:9–13). Love does not go out if it is not extinguished (✚1 Cor. 13:8). Live in love without caring what happens around you. Make a firm decision that you remain in love (✚John 15:9).
Love in the Bible
Jesus commanded to love (✚John 15:12). He is the one who brought love within everyone’s reach. Jesus loved before He was loved (✚Rom. 5:8; ✚1 John 4:10). Now all of Jesus’ sheep live in love. And even if one does not live that way immediately, surely love will come forth during the believer’s lifetime. It is precisely love that makes Christians different (✚John 13:35). Christians love because it is a commandment and God’s Spirit makes it possible (✚1 John 4:21; ✚Gal. 5:22). The most important of all is love (✚1 Cor. 13:13). Love does no evil (✚Rom. 13:10).
The Bible clearly tells what love is. It suffers everything and does not remember the evil it has suffered (✚1 Cor. 13:5, 13:7). In the Bible the apostles lived in love. Perhaps most of all John. That is why the letters of John came. I believe that John was the most sincere of all. In love there is also no fear (✚1 John 4:18), so John did not fear either.
I do not belittle the other apostles at all. My own personal favorite is Paul, a real superman. Paul proclaimed the gospel to the Gentiles (✚Gal. 2:7–8; ✚Rom. 11:13), and I am myself a Gentile Christian. It is difficult to comprehend how the apostles acted. At that time there was not yet a Bible. There were only letters, and Paul received the words and a vision from the Lord (✚Acts 9:3–6; ✚Gal. 1:11–12) and carried it out perfectly. A former perpetrator of violence and persecutor of the church (✚Acts 8:3; ✚Gal. 1:13; ✚1 Tim. 1:13). He changed completely (✚Acts 9:17–22). And what changed him? God’s love changed him (✚Gal. 2:20).
How Can One Love?
You can love in many ways. You can do good to your neighbors (✚Gal. 6:10). You can evangelize (✚Mark 16:15). You can forgive even if the person has not deserved it (✚Eph. 4:32; ✚Col. 3:13). You can give alms and help your neighbor (✚1 John 3:17–18). You can show mercy even if there were no reason for it (✚Luke 6:36). You can discipline if it is necessary. Discipline is love (✚Prov. 3:11–12; ✚Heb. 12:6). You can buy gifts. You can be a support in difficult times (✚Gal. 6:2). You can guide. You can pray for people (✚1 Tim. 2:1; ✚James 5:16). You can heal if you have the gift of healing (✚1 Cor. 12:9). These are only some forms of love and there are many more. If you are a sheep of Jesus and are not able to love, then pray. Repent and pray to God in faith (✚Mark 11:24; ✚James 1:5–6). It comes only by believing.
Love God with All Your Mind, with All Your Strength, and Your Neighbor as Yourself
First comes God. God must be loved with all your strength (✚Deut. 6:5; ✚Mark 12:30). It is a commandment in the Bible. If for some reason you are not able to love God, then pray for that as well. God sees your heart and nothing can be hidden (✚1 Sam. 16:7; ✚Heb. 4:13). Say everything to God and open your heart to Him (✚Ps. 62:8). God makes a change of mind and changes the heart (✚Ezek. 36:26; ✚Rom. 12:2).
I myself remember times when it was difficult to love God. I questioned God. Then I said to myself in my mind that God surely knows what He is doing (✚Isa. 55:8–9). From that began a new era in which I learned to love God. Jesus Himself says that whoever comes to Him, He will not reject (✚John 6:37). Those are the words of Jesus and surely true. You can trust in that.
Love also your neighbor (✚Lev. 19:18; ✚Matt. 22:39). It is also a commandment. It is therefore worth loving your whole circle of people. Tell about Jesus and proclaim God’s love (✚Mark 16:15)! If your neighbor is in distress, then help (✚Luke 10:33–37). You can support financially or by loving in other ways. Live in love (✚Eph. 5:2)!
In Eternal Life There Is Perfect Love
This is perhaps difficult to understand while in the world. Much evil happens in the world. It is perhaps difficult to imagine that eternity is perfect. Perfect love of God! Nothing evil, no pain, no weeping, no anguish, no violence (✚Rev. 21:4) but perfect love over everyone. In eternal life all evil has been removed (✚Rev. 21:27). To that God calls. So receive Jesus and God’s grace (✚Eph. 2:8), so that you could experience God’s perfect love in eternity! God has promised a new heaven and a new earth (✚Isa. 65:17; ✚2 Pet. 3:13; ✚Rev. 21:1). Everything perfect.
Closing Words
God commands to love Him and your neighbor as yourself (✚Matt. 22:37–39). Jesus brought love within everyone’s reach when He, sinless, carried out God’s calling perfectly and died on the cross for humankind (✚Rom. 5:8; ✚1 John 4:9–10). Love does no evil (✚Rom. 13:10). God has commanded to love also enemies (✚Matt. 5:44).
If you do not yet love God, then pray! Receive salvation (✚Rom. 10:9–10), and when you are in salvation, you can pray that God fills you with His love (✚Eph. 3:19). God is love (✚1 John 4:16).
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