What does God’s love look like?

The notion of “true love” dominates much of popular culture. We purchase cards, shop for gifts, and plan romantic outings with our cherished one in mind.

God Himself places a high value on love (1 Cor. 13:13) and delights in expressing His wonderful love to us. Much of the time, however, we don’t feel loved, do we? Sin has spoiled our capacity to understand God’s love, to receive His love, and to love Him in return.

Thank God that our Savior, Jesus Christ, has remedied this problem! By liberating us from the power of sin and providing us with a new nature, we can now understand — at least a little — our heavenly Father’s wonderful love for us.

Divine love is unconditional — He showers us with it regardless of who we are, where we have been, or what mistakes we have made. What matters to the Lord is that we belong to Him.

His love for us is also absolute — it never wavers or varies and knows no limitations. It always seeks our best, helping us to grow into the likeness of Jesus. Even when God disciplines us, He does so as a loving Father.

Understanding how much we are loved, and accepting God’s love for us, frees us to live and love God’s way. By loving Him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, we find the wisdom and power to love our neighbors in return.

What does loving God look like? Loving God means spending time deepening our relationship with Jesus Christ. We love Him when we give ourselves wholeheartedly to knowing Him and learning what pleases Him. We express our love when we give ourselves to Him and make a commitment to obey Him.

The Word of God also tells us that when we love others, we are loving Jesus (Matt. 25:40). Loving others God’s way means we will pursue God’s best for them. We will ask God to show us what we can say and do on behalf of others. We will seek to answer the question, “How can I build them up and help them grow into Christ’s likeness?” When we love people in obedience to God, we will find ourselves looking for ways to express God’s love to them. Love demonstrates that we belong to Jesus (John 13:35).

Taken from The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible