Last week at church we were looking at God’s attributes of His holiness and His love, and the question was asked: What is love? How can you define it? Is it a feeling, or an action? In the Bible, we see four different types of love: Eros (romantic love), Storge (family love), Philia (deep friendship love), and Agape (sacrificial love). With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, many will be focusing on the “eros” love (which is a good, God-given thing in its proper place 🙂).
I think Valentine’s Day is a sweet time to do something extra special for those we love. I personally like to write encouraging notes for friends and family members. (Last year my sisters and I wrote notes to our brothers and got them each some chocolate. The surprised looks on their faces when we presented them with their gifts were priceless. 😊😂) I know that for those of us who are single, this holiday can be hard, and it can make us feel extra lonely not having a significant other. One thing I have done that really encourages me during this time is to focus on God’s amazing love for us, which is the most important and HIGHEST form of love – Agape love.
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 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.” (1 John 2:9-10)
I love the hymn that states this truth beautifully:
Here is love; vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, my ransom,
Shed for me His precious blood.
Here is love – that God would give His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the sacrifice for our sins. We are the guilty ones, and He – the innocent, spotless Lamb of God. We are the ones choosing to sin and go away from God, yet – “God SO LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) What a gift! What a love!
“Greater love has no other than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
1 Corinthians 13, the great love chapter, highlights this sacrificial, agape love: “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” (1 Cor. 13:4-8)
I know I fall short of this love so many times. We as people WILL fail each other, but what a comfort that God’s love NEVER fails! I’m so thankful that the Lord Jesus gave us an example, along with the commandment, of how we are to love each other sacrificially: “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
So back to the question: What is love? I would say that true love is sacrifice. It is laying down your own desires, wishes, and needs for others, the greatest sacrifice being to lay down your very life for someone else. And Jesus Christ did that FOR US. ✝️🐑
To my single friends who may be feeling their singleness a little more keenly during this “month of love”, or are dealing with painful memories from past relationships – rejoice in God’s love for YOU! ❤️ He is the very essence of love. (“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” -1 John 4:16)
His love is:
- Better than life (Psalm 63:3)
- Perfect (Matthew 5:43-48)
- Immeasurable (Psalm 103:11)
- Unchanging (Malachi 3:6)
- Everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3, Psalm 136:26)
- Unconditional (Romans 5:8, John 3:16)
- Precious (Psalm 36:7)
- Surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:19)
- Sacrificial (Ephesians 5:25)
- Gentle (Isaiah 40:11, Matthew 11:29)
- Compassionate (Psalm 103:13-14)
- Knowing (Jeremiah 1:45, 12:3)
- Faithful (Deuteronomy 7:9, Lamentations 3:22-23)
- Patient (2 Peter 3:9)
- Forgiving (Nehemiah 9:17)
- Protective (Psalm 5:11-12)
- Calming (Zephaniah 3:17)
- Inseparable (Romans 8:35-39)
Here is love. God’s pure, perfect, immeasurable, indescribable love. ❤️🌊
“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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:10)
Question: Which two aspects of God’s love resonated with you the most?
The two that stuck out to me is how His love is everlasting – “The LORD has appeared of old to me saying, ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” (Jeremiah 31:3), and how His love is calming. I love the description of this calming aspect in Zephaniah 3:17 – “The LORD God is your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Sincerely,
sincerely-amanda.com 
Thank you so much for the encouragement in this post, Amanda! I was just thinking on 1 John 2:9 earlier today! I loved the list of aspects of God’s love, so it’s hard to pick just two, but…”Better than life” and “Everlasting” are definitely amazing. Thank you again! ♥
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I’m so glad it was an encouragement to you! ❤️ How neat that the verse from 1 John was on your mind! 😊 Yes, I also had a hard time picking only two. Those are wonderful that you picked. As I’ve been thinking about that first one, “better than life”, I’ve had a song going through my head (Better by the Millers). The chorus says, “Your love is better than life. You are the well that won’t run dry. I have tasted and I have seen You are better than all these things.”
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