Love Begins With God

Love is such a big part of life. So much of our human experience is rooted in being loved, finding love, and learning how to give love to others. A well-lived life is one where we have loved and been loved.

But love was never our idea. It was God’s.

He is the creator of love, and through Jesus we are able to truly know and experience it. Before we ever chose to become part of God’s family, He made a way for us to belong. John 3:16 reminds us of that, and 1 John 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us.” The Father was pursuing us long before we ever thought to pursue Him. We did nothing to earn His love. He chose us first.

When you are looking for a spouse, there is something so meaningful about being pursued. That feeling of being chosen and wanted. In an even deeper way, that is what the Father has done for us. He pursued us.

In the Greek language, there is the word agape used to describe God’s kind of love. It is selfless, unconditional, and sacrificial. In our everyday lives, we use the word love very casually. I am guilty of it too. I say I love a meal, a movie, or just about anything I enjoy. But when we slow down and consider the true meaning of love, and remember that it was love that placed Jesus on the cross, we begin to understand what it really means to be loved.

It is through the unconditional love we experience in Christ that we are able to extend selfless love to others. First Corinthians 13 describes what love looks like. We know it is patient, kind, not easily provoked, and so much more. And when we remember that God is love, as 1 John 4:8 tells us, we can take great comfort in knowing that these qualities describe Him. The Lord is patient. He is kind. He bears all things. He is not self-seeking. He thinks no evil. He does not rejoice in wrongdoing. His love never fails.

This is the foundation from which we are able to live out love in our own lives. Toward our families. Toward our neighbors. Even toward those who are difficult to love. When we love this way, we show the world what God is like. He is love.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8
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.

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