God Is Love: And Why That Makes all the Difference for You!

With the last post, we started a 21-Day Challenge to find joy in God’s love. We explored God’s majesty — the way He creates as the Master Artist with astonishing detail and purpose. With this post, I want to look at how God is love. And how that truth makes His love radically different from any kind of love we experience here on earth.

I pray you were challenged to STOP trying to fill the longing in your heart with people and things and that you discovered new things about the way you think. I pray you are closer to Jesus this week than you were last week and I pray your heart has found a little more peace.

Discovering God Is Love and How That Radically Changes Everything

Last week, we dug into God’s Word to discover Who this God is. His majesty, power, and perfection. The Scriptures I provided showed us these things. His Word reveals truth in far more powerful ways than anything I can write, so I hope you printed out those Bible verses to read throughout your days or found them in your Bible. (If you haven’t started, don’t worry! Each new day is a new opportunity!)

But now, let’s dig into the Word to see how God is Love and how His Love is radically different from the love we find on earth.

Where in the Bible does it say God is Love?

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. John 4:16 ESV

Read this verse again. Let it sink in. Really sink in.

God is love.

It doesn’t just say He has love to give.

But that HE IS LOVE.

What does it mean to say, “God is love”?

I think of my husband’s incredible barbequing skills and how I have so many food allergies. He always finds ways to adjust the recipe’s for me so that I can still enjoy what he has prepared. It’s a huge inconvenience, but he does it with love and care. I am so thankful for his love.

And then I think of the sweet gestures of love from my kids. Or the friends that intentionally prayed for me last week on a particularly hard day. My heart overflowed with their love.

But here’s the thing. Even though those moments are gifts, they are unsustainable. My husband will fail. He will say or do a thing that doesn’t feel so loving. My kids will roll their eyes, whine, or snap at me leaving my heart feeling a little less than. And friends will forget to call or be too busy to connect. As humans we love imperfectly.

We have much love to give, but God is love.

He embodies love. He is the author and creator of love and of our ability to love. God’s perfection means He can love without fail. He easily does what we simply cannot.

God will not let you down because His love cannot fail.

So, to which love do you want to anchor yourself to? To a love that will fall short? Or to one that is secured and cannot fall short? One that cannot fail.

If we anchor our hope to the love of another human, we will not stay afloat. We will wash away when storms come our way.

But when we are anchored by the love of Christ, we will not drift. We will withstand the storms and so will our hope.

How does this affect how we give and receive love?

When we are anchored to God’s love, we can live with confidence. We don’t love others in an overly needy way because we know we are loved and experience that love 24/7. We know we are created with and for a purpose. And that we were created with excellence by a good good Father.

When we know that God is love and anchor ourselves to that truth, we can extend grace toward those who fall short instead of reacting out of false expectations and insecurity. We are able to love sacrificially but also recognize healthy boundaries and confidently draw them for our relationships.

Finally, we can love out of His overflow when we are anchored to God’s love. We don’t love out of our brokenness — not out of shame, guilt, or our own strength. We love in healthier ways making healthier relationships.

7 More Bible Verses About God’s Love

There are many Bible verses that tell us of the great love God has for us. I chose the verses both through prayer and those I found to embody the magnitude of His love and how it differs from any other love. (I love to use Bible Gateway as I search and compare translations.)

1. John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” John 3:16-17 ESV

His love is for everyone. One of the most well-known scriptures is John 3:16. In it, He tells us He sent His Son to save the world. Because He so loved everyone! How many of us are capable of loving everyone? That’s a tough task.

2. Luke 23:34

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” Luke 23:34 ESV

And to take that even a step further. He even loves and forgives His enemies. That is a great big love. And it is great big forgiveness. If He loves despite that, how can we not want to anchor onto that?

3. Romans 5:7-8

We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Romans 5:7-8 MSG

What He gives is more important to Him than what He gets. His love is sacrificial. It is agape love. (selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, the highest of the four types of love in the Bible)

4. Hebrews 13:5

I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5 ESV

His love is immovable. It’s not dependent upon how much we love Him or how well we act. He loves us. We cannot benefit from His freedom, peace, and joy until we accept His love and fully give Him our hearts in return, but whether we do or not, He still loves us.

5. Ephesians 3:17

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:17 NLT

His love digs in. It isn’t afraid to confront. Nor is it limited with time. He is there all the time. He’s not too busy. There is nothing impersonal about living inside of us.

6. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” I Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV

His love is perfect. Unfailing. It can do all these things without fault.

7. Philippians 2:5-8

…Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8 NLT

His love has no pride.

I pray these Words sink deep into your heart. You are so loved. Perfect love is calling. A love that can fill the deepest and darkest holes in your heart.

When you look to those you love to make your heart full, you hold them accountable to a level they are incapable of fulfilling. You set your loved ones up for failure and set your heart up for hurt.

However, there is hope because of God’s love. Anchor yourself to God’s love. Let your heart be full. Then love others from that overflow rather than from the leftovers of a disappointed and possibly broken heart.

Print these 7 Bible Verses About God’s Love

Print the 7 Bible verses about God’s love here. Write them. Speak them. Pray them. And let them soak into your heart.

A Prayer to Know That God Is Love

Want to start from the beginning of this challenge? You can find that post here.

As always, I’d love for you to join me as a subscriber. It is an encouragement to me and allows you to not miss a post or any of the extras. I love knowing who is along with me on this bumpy road of life 🙂

Here’s how the challenge is broken down:

Fully knowing God. His majesty, power, and perfection. (post 1)

Grasping the depth of God’s love for us and how His love is a radically different love. (post 2)

Developing discipline in recognizing lies, praying against them, and replacing them with God’s unfailing words of truth and love. (post 3)

---

If this is your first visit, subscribe below to get access to the Library of Hope and all the free resources I have in there to help you unveil YOUR HOPE!

Your joy isn’t dependent on your circumstances. As a matter of fact, it’s something far deeper — more meaningful and everlasting than happiness. The encouragement I share in this place and on all my social media channels equips you to live with that kind of joy every day.

I’d love to be a part of your journey toward a deeper faith. One that nourishes your heart and helps you experience the fullness of God’s love.

You can start by joining thousands of others who are discovering God, their identity as His child, and how to live with confidence, joy, peace, and HOPE! Just fill out the form below!

Or Grab a Copy of My Bible Study!

My favorite online location for Bible Verses is at Bible Gateway!