What Is God’s Forever Love?
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. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
For some love is fickle, but with God it is forever! As I read again the words of the apostle Paul in the great Love Chapter of the New Testament, I am challenged to love more and love better. I am also reminded that God always possesses and displays every characteristic on Paul’s list. God is never lacking in the love department. He never acts in a way that contradicts the noble characteristics of real love. Why? The answer might surprise you.
The reason God’s love is a forever kind of love is because it is not something He possesses; rather, it is who He is. First John 4 paints the picture of the nature of God’s heart in this way: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (v. 8). The way the apostle John describes love in this passage reveals that apart from God, there is no love, because “God is love.” In fact, he repeats that claim later in the same chapter, “We have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (v. 16).
If God is love, how much does He love, and for how long? John answers both questions in one encouraging sentence: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9). In Christ – and in the eternal life we can have through His life, death, and Resurrection – we see the full measure of God’s love.
Oh Lord, thank You for Your love. I know there is nothing in me that deserves Your attention, and there is nothing lacking in You so that You need to love me. You love because You are love, love that last forever. Help me love others the way You have loved me! Amen.
Tim Dowdy, McDonough, GA