What is LOVE?

If you ask this question of ten people you would probably get ten different answers.  Some might say Love is when a mother holds a newborn child for the very first time.  Others might say that Love is when a man loves a woman so much that she fills his every thought.  There would be a few that would say  God is Love.  These are all good answers, but to fully understand Love, we must embrace God and have a relationship with him. 

What I want to talk about is God’s love for mankind.  To me it defines what LOVE is.  This is a special kind of Love that I don’t believe can be compared to any other.  Most of us know the scripture

John 3:16

 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We know the scripture, but have you ever really thought about the depth of love that this is.  God the Son loved us so much that he stepped outside his deity to become a man in order to die for our sins.  That is LOVE.  Most of us that are Christians talk to Jesus and thank him every day for loving us enough to give his life for us, to suffer and die so that we might live with him eternally.  I thank him every day that he loved me so much when I didn’t deserve his love, but right now I would like to ask you to look at God the Father when thinking of this scripture.  Those of you that have children will relate to what I am about to say. 

John 15:13 says

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

I look around at all the people in my life; family, friends, neighbors and I ask myself, if it ever came to the point of dying, could I die to save them.  I have to say that God has filled me with such love that I would consider it.  Then I look at my son, my one and only son whom I love beyond life and I ask myself the same question.  You guessed it, my answer is emphatically NO, not even for an instant would I consider allowing him to die to save another, not even to save the world.   I am human and not capable of that kind of Love.  My son means more to me than the whole world.   Yet God the Father did just that for you and me.  He allowed Jesus, his one and only begotten son to step outside his deity, to suffer and die for you and me.  That my friend is what LOVE is.  God is LOVE beyond human comprehension.  He is LOVE of the purest kind.  The kind of LOVE that can take a drunkard and wrap him in his arms, save and heal him body and soul.  That can look down on an adulteress, a murderer or any other kind of sinner and LOVE them still.  God loves you more that any words could ever say. 

I hope I have given you something to think about and if you haven’t given your heart to him and accepted the Lord Jesus as your savior that you will think about how much he loves you.  He is always standing ready, with outstretched arms waiting for you to walk into them and be made perfectly whole. 

Author Kathy Wellman

References: King James Bible