What is love?
According to the English language, love is an intense feeling of deep affection.
If you compare this to the Hebrew word for love, which is hesed, the English definition covers only half of the equation.
In Hebrew, love is not only a feeling, it is an action as well.
It encompasses faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, goodness, and loyalty.
Then there is rachamim, which means compassion/lovingkindness, which is a combination of tenderness and consideration toward others. It derives its meaning from the love a mother feels for a baby in the womb.
It is not self-seeking. It is complete devotion, sacrificing self for others, going the extra mile.
In 1 John the word, love, is mentioned 26 times, and it is written that God is love.
So, according to the author of 1 John, God possesses all the attributes listed above.
God is faithful, merciful, good, loyal, full of grace and kindness. God loves us like a mother tenderly cares for a baby in the womb.
God looks after our best interest and is completely devoted.
Is this the God you know?
Unfortunately, many are going to have to say no. Why?
Because we have been taught by the Christian religion to associate different attributes to God, attributes like destruction and hate towards sin in particular.
One thing that I am discovering as I am writing these posts is about how obsessively focused on “sin” that religiously-minded people are.
And, herein, lies the problem.
God is love, and it is only discovered by a spiritual experience with the true and living God, the one who led Abraham out of Ur and the one who spoke to the prophets.
Lastly, the one who sent his chosen one to teach us the way. (Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 42).
This is one thing that Christians and I can agree upon. Jesus Christ is the chosen one spoken about by Isaiah. His God is our God.
And, I am here to tell you that I was a dedicated Christian for years and never had an experience with God to make me love Him.
I knew about Him, I worshiped Him, I praised Him, and I chose to believe in Him, although I had not had any significant encounter to let me know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He even existed, until one particular day.
That is when my walk with God started. It was in June of 1988, the day that I began to love God.
I have told parts of my story in other posts (i.e., The Family), but I never discussed the part how I felt when I was set free, so I want to use a Bible passage to illustrate.
I can truly relate to the woman written about in Luke chapter 7, verse 36.
And, one of the Pharisees desired Christ to dine with him, and as they sat down to eat,
Behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.
When the Pharisee who had asked Christ to dinner, saw this,
He spoke within himself, saying. This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches him: for she is a sinner.
And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.
Simon responded, “Master, say on.”
Jesus said, “There was a certain creditor, which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. And, when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.” “Tell me therefore, which one will love him the most?”
The Pharisee answered, “I suppose he to whom he forgave most.”
Christ answered, “you have rightly judged.”
Then, Yeshua continued. “See this woman?” “You gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head.”
“You gave me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in has not ceased to kiss my feet.”
“My head, with oil, you did not anoint, but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment.”
“Wherefore, I say to you, that her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
I can relate to this, because as I was going through a very difficult time in my pervious marriage and was SO unhappy, I was trapped.
I truly believed that God never allowed divorce. That is what my religion had taught me, and I was determined to go down with the ship in order to please God.
When God let me know that He was setting me free and as those things came to pass, that incident caused me to love the Lord SO very deeply.
I had been freed from the horrible mistake that I had made.
I knew in my heart that I was not supposed to marry him, but I did it anyway, thinking I could pray him into the kingdom.
And, I suffered so much because of my error/sin.
Religion told me that I was trapped forever, but God set me free, and because of it I am forever thankful.
I love God more today than I ever have, because, like any relationship, you truly learn about the attributes of another over time.
I can most assuredly say because I have experienced it, that God is love.
I don’t just believe it, but I know that God is faithful, merciful, good, loyal, full of grace and kindness. God loves me like a mother tenderly cares for a baby in the womb. God looks after my best interest and is completely devoted to me, just like Yeshua taught.
And, I hope to help others make this spiritual connection, so they can see how good God truly is.
God is love.