Perhaps you're like me. You grew up in church and Sunday School. You know all the words to Jesus Loves Me and Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World and Praise Him! Praise Him! and even the more obnoxious songs like Father Abraham (Yeah, you're welcome for that earworm). Or maybe the extent of your religious experience is that you watch Oprah... For those of us within the first category, maybe the idea of "God is love" is something that we haven't stopped to really think about for a while because it's something we've known for such a long time. For those outside of that category, maybe our view of God's love has been skewed by it's inaccurate portrayal in the media and through well-meaning evangelicals. So what does the phrase "God is love" mean?
I think in order to really answer this question, we have to dig a little deeper. If God is love, what is love? Let's look at I Corinthians:
4) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.
5) or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6) it does not rejoice at wrongdoings, but rejoices with the truth.
7) Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things
8a) Love never ends.
This is a description of the attributes of love. It is also a description of the character of God, therefore, God = love.
So the second part of the verse talks about abiding in love. What does that even mean? Well let's define the word "abide":
verb (used without object)
1.
to remain; continue; stay: Abide with me.
2.
to have one's abode; dwell; reside: to abide in a small Scottish village.
3.
to continue in a particular condition, attitude, relationship, etc.; last.
verb (used with object)
4.
to put up with; tolerate; stand: I can't abide dishonesty!
5.
to endure, sustain, or withstand without yielding or submitting: to abide a vigorous onslaught.
6.
to wait for; await: to abide the coming of the Lord.
7.
to accept without opposition or question: to abide the verdict of the judges.
8.
In this instance, the definition of abide that applies here is the first one: to remain; continue; stay. If we choose to continue in love (i.e. our actions, our choices, our relationships) then we are choosing to remain with God and He with us. As we try and emulate God's love and choose to continue in the example that Christ has set for us, God will abide with us. God's love IS like a circle. We love Him because He first loved us. As we abide in love, God abides with us. And His love is everlasting.
to pay the price or penalty of; suffer for.
God IS love.
♥Rebekah
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