What does it mean that God is love?

It means love is not just something God does but the center of who he is (1 John 4:8). His love is not a passing mood; it is his constant nature, shown most clearly in sending Jesus to lay down his life for us.

Agape is the New Testament word for God's kind of love: self-giving, unearned, and committed to the good of the other at cost to itself. It is the love God shows us and calls us to show one another.

Love

What Is God's Love?

The Bible does not just say God loves; it says God is love (1 John 4:8). His love is not a mood that comes and goes but the very center of who he is. It is self-giving rather than self-seeking, given before it is deserved, and it was shown most clearly not in words but in Jesus, sent to lay down his life so that we could live.

God is love

“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

1 John 4:8

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

1 John 4:9-10

“I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”

Jeremiah 31:3

How it is different

The New Testament uses a particular word for this love: agape. It is not attraction, not affection earned by charm, not a trade of favors. It is love that gives, that keeps its promises, that seeks the good of the other at real cost to itself. Human love usually says, I love you because. God's love says, I love you, full stop, and then proves it by sending his Son.

Because God's love is rooted in his own nature and not in our performance, it is steady. It does not rise when you do well and fall when you fail. That is why Christians can speak of an everlasting love that draws us home rather than a fragile approval we have to keep winning.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean that God is love?: It means love is not just something God does but the center of who he is (1 John 4:8). His love is not a passing mood; it is his constant nature, shown most clearly in sending Jesus to lay down his life for us.
What is agape love?: Agape is the New Testament word for God's kind of love: self-giving, unearned, and committed to the good of the other at cost to itself. It is the love God shows us and calls us to show one another.
How did God show his love?: The Bible says God showed his love by sending his Son: 'Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son' (1 John 4:10), and 'while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us' (Romans 5:8).

One step further: What is agape love? →

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Come and see for yourself

You do not have to take our word for any of this. The love of God is not finally an idea to be agreed with but a Person to be met, and Jesus still draws near to everyone who comes to him with an open heart. Read his own words, tell him honestly where you are, and see. It costs you nothing but a little quiet and an honest look.

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God is love.

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