What is love? Love is defined as: an intense feeling of deep affection. Love is known as one of the strongest emotions to humans and is constantly discussed topic because of the impact it has on everyone’s lives. We are all looking to be loved, to love others and always express how much we love our friends, family, kids, pets, jobs, cars…etc, the list goes on and on.
However God’s word defines it as:
“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 in the truth. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
I do not know about you, but ever since I can remember, I wanted to know what being loved and loving others really meant. I wondered and struggled with what being loved unconditionally meant. I went through challenges of loving myself and wanting to feel loved so badly that I settled for what I thought it could be in past relationships. But through reading God’s word and growing closer to the Savior, all of that changed because real, unconditional love came alive through the pages. The first two and greatest commandments in the bible are:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with and with all your mind. And… Love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22: 37-39
Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, then out of that flows the second greatest which is to love our neighbor as ourselves. To love God with all our heart, soul and mind means that we completely surrender our entire beings including our hearts to Him and Him alone. When we learn the meaning of true unconditional love from our father in heaven, then we can see ourselves the way that God does and that transcends to be able to see others the way God does.
Remember that first and foremost God loves us with no conditions, with no limits. He paints the picture of that love in 1 John 4:9-10:
This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins
1 John 4:9-10
We love God so fervently because He first loved us and chased after us until we were found. He continues to pour his love through grace and mercy daily. He offers His love freely to us, there is nothing we must do or say to receive it abundantly. God wants us to remember how valuable we are and how valuable everyone else is. Whatever challenges we face, He strategically brings it to light so that He can heal us, so that we can then help to heal others as well. It all comes back to love: loving God, loving ourselves and then pouring out love unto others.
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Ephesians 3:18-19
If you have not experienced this love or have any questions, please leave a comment, or reach out via the contact info provided on our site.
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