God is love

‘God is love. He didn’t need us. But he wanted us. And that is the most amazing thing.’
Rick Warren

Welcome. When we talk about ‘God is Love’ many questions come to mind. For example, if God really is love then why doesn’t He do something about the suffering in the world. That’s a good question and I will try and address it.

God created us with a free will.
He could have created us like programmed robots but that would not be love. With free will comes the possibility of choosing evil. Much of the world’s suffering is the result of human choices: violence, greed, injustice, and selfishness. God does not force us to love or obey Him, because doing so would violate the very nature of love.
God is patient and merciful.
2 Peter 3:9 ‘The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’
Jesus likewise identified with agonising suffering when He voluntarily was crucified on a cross to restore our relationship with him. About the Lord Isaiah say (63:9) ‘In all their suffering, he also suffered.’
God can use even evil situations for good.
‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28).
God can redeem every situation, but it usually takes time to process that.
Christ has won the victory, but we still await its fulfilment.
Evil will not last forever. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’ (Revelation 21:4).

Henri Nouwen – The Inner Voice of Love
‘Your suffering and pain are not meaningless.
They are the places where God hides his love
and waits for you with His healing presence.’

N.T. Wright – Evil and the Justice of God
“The Christian story is not about God explaining away suffering.
It is about God putting Himself
on the line for suffering—taking it into Himself.’

We find in Scripture that Jesus embodied love in His actions and even the ‘common people’ heard him gladly. The apostles also emphasised this truth in their writings.

In the original Greek language of the New Testament, there are 2 distinct types of ‘love’ described:

Philia – the love of deep friendship and companionship.
Agape – unconditional love, exemplified by God’s sacrificial love for humanity as demonstrated on the cross. John 3:16….

Because the nature of God is love, He wants us to live in and share that love with others. Mystics of the Middle Ages often declared that true love like ‘agape’ love is the hallmark of Christian maturity.

Why at times do we find it so hard to love?

Insecurities stemming from harsh or unloving upbringing.
A tendency to magnify the faults of others while minimizing our own shortcomings.
Pride, including the subtle danger of ‘spiritual pride’ leads us to incorrect judgements and excuses us from doing the loving thing.

What drove Jesus to love humanity so fervently that He endured the agony of the cross?

His motivations were deeply rooted:

His communion with the Father’s love. He consistently sought time with His Father through meditation and reflection.
Through the cross he opened the way that we might know that we can be total forgiven of sin and reconciled to Father God. ‘For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Hebrews 12:2)
His declaration that we are His friends is a remarkable and humbling truth that he should love and enjoy our company so much. (John 15:14)
The power of the ‘will’ over mere emotion. Jesus extended His love to all especially the marginalized.

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman outlines five key ways people express and receive love: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. Each person tends to have a primary love language that makes them feel most valued and loved. Understanding and speaking your partner’s love language can greatly improve communication, build deeper emotional bonds, and create a more fulfilling and lasting relationship. For myself I like ‘physical touch’, that’s why it’s natural for me to hug a person, while my wife Pam enjoys the love language of ‘words of affirmation’.

Sometimes there are different ‘cultural expressions’ of expressing love. What kind of love is someone needing from you now? There are many families with a troubled child and the parents long to have a weekend free of that responsibility. Could you show your love in that practical way? Or even just a meal for a needy person and so on?

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

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