Love is a central and reoccurring theme in the Bible and among the followers of Jesus. Succinctly, God is love (1 John 4:8 and 1 John 4:16)
Although the modern usage of love expresses it as an emotion (as in, “I love rain”) or an intensifier (as in, “I’d love to!”), we’ll do well to consider love as an attitude, an act of will and determination. Even to claim love for a pet, is stretching things a bit.
We can rightly love a person and we should love God. A person can love us back, but such love is often ultimately conditional; God’s love for us is unconditional.
Supreme love is shown by giving one’s life to save another (Romans 5:7). Jesus embodied this in dying to make us right with God; that is, to save us (Romans 5:8).
Faith, hope, and love are a major triad in the Bible (1 Corinthians 13:13, Colossians 1:5, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, and 1 Thessalonians 5:8).
Key verse about Love:
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you (Genesis 22:2, NIV).
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
