LOVE IS… To the Christian many things are   important.  The “Love Chapter” of First   Corinthians speaks of things in which the Christian is to abide.  These include faith, hope, and love.   We then are told that of these three things “love” is the greatest          (1 Cor. 13:13).  None will argue that this  observation is wrong.  The problem is that too many people have a faulty and often  self-serving definition of love.  I have seen brothers to the right of me and the left of me say right words about love; and then when it comes down to practicing the words they are saying, they miss it. Let us understand that there is more substance to the love of which the Bible speaks   than mere sentimentality or feelings and emotions. The Greek verb (action) for love is AGAPAO.  The Greek noun (thing) for love is AGAPE.  W.E. Vine’s “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words” gives us some depth regarding what God is communicating to us regarding this word.  Love is the term used to describe the attitude that God, the Father, has towards His Son.   In the conclusion of Jesus’ powerful prayer in John 17, He says, “I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (Jn. 17:26).  Love is the ultimate glue that bonds relationships between the Father and the Son and between God and us.  Love is not to be forced or required as an act of obedience. Love is something that automatically comes from the heart and expresses itself in various acts and deeds. God loves 100% of humanity.  This is simply because He has created 100% of humanity in His image.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should notperish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).  “World” here does not mean He loves the planet.  “World” is a figure of speech that is used to communicate His love for all mankind.  “… God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).  Love, you see, is more than a sentimentality God has toward us. God’s love includes ACTION or DEEDS.  God’ s love is expressed upon those who will believe in His Son.  “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My   Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him”  (Jn. 14:21).  From God’s  perspective those today who possess/know and keep Christ’s commands are those who love Him.  Both the Father and the Son will love (have a relationship with) such a person. Love in the New Testament does convey God’s will to His children concerning their attitude toward one another.  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn. 13:34).  You know, many times it is easy for us to love our own.  Christians are called to be God-like and rise above human values and have love toward all men.  God did this for us and continues to do this for us when we break His heart and sin or self-destruct.  “And may the Lord make you INCREASE and ABOUND in love to one another and to ALL, just as we do to you,” (1 Thess. 3:12).  We are directed in 1 Corinthians 16:14, “Let all that you do be done with love.”  Christians are always to be in a growing process; to be anything less is the beginning of decay and spiritual death.  To be growing or maturing in Christ is not a chore any more than it is a chore to sit down to enjoy a good meal with friends.   That meal allows us to continue life as we provide sustenance for our frame, and we make life memories with those we love.  To continue to grow in one’s bond or relationship with God, one must give ALL diligence to keep adding to, or maturing oneself, before God with love being the capstone of one’s abundant life (2 Pet. 1:5-7). We need to understand what we are doing when we love.  We are offering the ultimate compliment to our God.  “He who does NOT LOVE does not know God, for God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8).  When we love, we are acting like God.  There is a sense in which God does love unconditionally.  God’s sunshine and rain fall equally on the evil and the good (Mt. 5:45).  The deserving and the undeserving receive blessings from God.  There are no conditions; He just acts this way regarding our daily needs. Love can only be known from the actions it prompts.  God’s love for us prompted Him to act and intervene on our behalf because of our sin problem.  “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live thorough Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins”   (1 Jn. 4:9-10). Since God is love, real love cannot be known outside of God.  Many counterfeit forms of love try to take the place of God’s real love.  If this is true, then we can easily understand why it is so essential that we before all other priorities be encouraged to “Love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind” (Mt. 22:37).  Defined as Love, God is worthy of such great love.  In so honoring Him we grow and mature regarding the opportunities we have in learning to love as our God loves.  God’s real love always, always, always desires the very best for all the lives it touches every day.  Are you learning to love even as your Father in heaven loves?