The Divine Love: Understanding God's Love for Humanity

There is a multitude of attributes of God, what He is and that any human being can also become. Among these countless attributes or characteristics, we have love. A 'simple' characteristic present in some way in the life of all humanity, from the rich to the poor, with or without knowledge. Love is often confused as a feeling, but in 1 John 4:16 it says that God is Love, so if God is Love he cannot be a feeling but a person. God being love gives the word much more depth and meaning than a simple feeling that in a moment is felt and in a few minutes has passed. God so loved the world that he gave his Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life. So God loved and gave his Son, God became Man, so that humanity could know love up close and not only from hearing about it, but learn what love is from loveitself.

In 1 John 4:19 it says that we love Him because He loved us first, love comes from Him and so we love Him and consequently we learn to love the other. Romans 13: 8-10 says owe nothing to anyone except the debt of love for one another! If you love others, you will be obeying all the Law of God, and fulfilling all His demands. The following commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not covet', and any other commandment, all sum up in one commandment: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'. Love does no harm to others. That is the reason why he fully satisfies all the requirements of the Law. Jesus left two main commandments, to love God above all things and the neighbor as yourself.

To love God is to have a relationship with him, to know him and to keep his commandments. God makes it very clear that the love we have for Him must be greater than anything else, so God does not endure idolatry, anything that steals love for God from the top of our lives becomes idolatry, and shows that we do not we love Him. In 1 John 4 he shows us how to know that God really loved us and we know how much God loves us because we already feel his love and because we believe in him when he tells us  that he loves us deeply. God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living in God and God is living in him, and thus Christ is being manifested and we are perfecting ourselves in him, being able to come closer to Him. Another characteristic of love is that it is perfect and that perfection makes us feel safe and not afraid, perfect love casts out all fear. In love there is no fear, his perfect love for us drives away all fear. If we are afraid, it is because we fear his punishment, and it shows that we are not completely convinced that he really loves us. Therefore, our love for him comes as a result of him loving us first. This perfection comes because God is love and God is perfect, as we live in Christ, our love becomes more perfect and complete and thus, we will not be ashamed or disturbed on the day of judgment, but we will be able to stand before him with confidence, because our life in this world is like the life of Christ.

How Do We Know If We are Loving God and Living Like Christ in This World?

In John 14:21 it says that he who has my commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and show myself to him. The more we know Him as love, the more we love and love our neighbor, because the one who says he loves God but hates his brother is a liar, because whoever does not love his brother whom he see, cannot love God whom he does not see. His love in us is reflected in loving the other. The love we show one another on earth proves that we love God. Romans 5-5: 8 says that God poured out His love in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit that He gave us. When we were totally helpless, Christ came at the right time and died for the sinners. Even if we were righteous, we would not really expect anyone to die for us, although someone would have the courage to die for a good person. God, however, showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Before Jesus died he said he would leave the Holy Spirit, the comforter, and our actions of love, poured out on us through the Holy Spirit would demonstrate that He controls our lives, He will produce in us this kind of fruit: love, joy, peace , patience, righteousness, kindness, faithfulness, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their bad desires and passions. If we are now living by the power of the Holy Spirit, let us follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in all aspects of our lives Love and Spirit are completely interconnected, it is through Him that God poured out His love on us and through Him we reveal God's love to people, so love goes beyond words, in 2 Corinthians 8: 8 it says that even the act of giving is a way of proving that love is true, that it goes beyond simple words. Perfect love died on the cross, a way of showing your love here on earth, and that goes far beyond the word in 2 Corinthians 4-10: 11 says that this body of ours is constantly facing death, just as it was with Jesus; thus, it is very clear to everyone that the life of Jesus is revealed in our body. Yes, we live in constant danger of death for our lives for the sake of Jesus, so that his life will also manifest itself in our mortal bodies. This does not mean that we are going to cause death itself or even desire it, but we will not be afraid to face obstacles, we must not measure efforts so that Christ is revealed even through our body. Going from the danger of losing his life, but also not eating meat if necessary, Romans14: 15. If a brother is uncomfortable because of what you eat, you will not be proceeding with love if you continue to eat. Love is demonstrated in simple attitudes, what is a piece of meat compared to the love of God giving his child. Love is patient, love is kind. Do not envy, do not boast, is not proud. He doesn't mistreat, he doesn't look for his own interests, he doesn't get angry easily, he doesn't hold a grudge. Love does not enjoy injustice, but is happy with the truth. Everything suffers, everything believes, everything hopes, everything endures. These are some extensions of love, a way of how it can be manifested on earth. The book of Corinthians teaches a lot about love, specifically chapter 13, which in addition to the above mentioned verses starting from verse 8, goes on to say that all the special gifts and powers that come from God will end one day, but not that they are not important or necessary, but only love will continue forever.

Someday, prophecy, speaking in unknown languages and knowledge will pass. Verse 13 mentions three things that remain: faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love. God's love is immeasurable, meaning that nothing we do can match the perfect love shown to us on the cross. God, however, showed his great love for us, sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners, for everyone who also believes in him, endures,hopes, will not perish but has eternal life, life eternally by the side of Love itself.

In Ephesians 5: 2 Paul speaks “Be filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice in order to take away your sins. And God was satisfied, because Christ's love for you was like a sweet perfume to him.” Paul the servant of Christ wrote this when he was still in prison for love and for preaching that the Gentiles are part of thehouse of God.

Ephesians 3-16: 19 Paul shows his prayers: I pray that from his glorious and limitless riches He will grant you powerful inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will dwell in your hearts, as you trust him, and that you will take your roots deep in the soil of God's wonderful love; and that you, together with all the children of God, can understand the breadth, length, height and depth of Christ's love; and you can experience that love for yourselves, although it is so great that you will never see its end, nor will you be able to know or fully understand it. And in that way,you will be filled with all the fullness of God Himself. Looking at Paul's life, saying this prayer from inside the prison, I realize that the love I am living is very superficial, Paulo was so sure of the love of God, that he knew that it was not even possible to fully understand. I used to think that love would comewith the strength of my own arm, that I, being a person who has difficulty loving, had to strive to love people, I realized that in fact I need to know God, that if my attitudes are not directed by the Holy Spirit this means that my roots need to be deepened in the soil of God's love.

First of all, I need to recognize that love does not come from me, I could never do it, love comes from him, because He is perfect, I will have to go to his word and study much more who He is, and what perfect love, that casts out all fear. I always understood this verse wrong, I thought it was about not being afraid to love people, when in fact it is about not being afraid of God's judgment, because if I love my life here on earth, it will demonstrate that and I will not be afraid when Judgment Day comes and I will not even be afraid of people, because my attitudes will reflect His love. I don't even know where to start I was completely bewildered, maybe I should start praying asking God to show me in what ways I can getto know him. Reading the Bible beyond meditation hours, spending more time with God in the morning.

Loving my life less, if it depends on what I suffer in my physical body for someone to know God, it may be that that person will never know, I don't want to feel pain, to put my life in danger if not necessary, I always think about mine comfort. Christ loved me by giving his own life, and the most I am doing is being in a missionary institution thinking it is the greatest sacrifice in the world. Paul in 2 Corinthians 11: 2 ... zeal that your love is only for Christ, just as a virgin reserves her love for only one man, who will be her husband. I still need to abandon the love I have for my well- being, wanting to spend hours on my cell phone, talking with friends, my sleep and especially that things always go the way I want, stealing the place of the Holy Spirit, with certainly the biggest change that I can and want to have today is a life guided by the Holy Spirit, now I understand that a life guided by Him is the demonstration of God's love here on earth.