7 Characteristics of God’s Love
The concept of Christian love is impossible to fully understand and live out faithfully without an understanding of God’s love. God’s very nature is love (1 John 4:8), so when we seek to define love, there is only one place we should go: Him!
Do you want to love people better? Do you want deep, genuine, lasting, authentic Christian relationships? Do you want your marriage marked by heartfelt affection and more than the fleeting and shallow picture of Hollywood romance? Do you want your children to experience security, confidence, and assurance in this life because of your love? If you do, then look to God’s love as what you are to imitate.
To help you understand God’s love and be inspired to imitate it (Ephesians 5:1-2), here are 7 characteristics of God’s love from A.W. Pink’s, The Attributes of God:
1: The Love of God is UNINFLUENCED
In Deuteronomy 7:7-8 we read of God’s love for Israel as it says, “The LORD did not set His love on you, nor choose you because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people.” What does this passage point to? God loved Israel simply because He chose to! It was because the LORD loved you. In this, we see that God loves according to His purposes when we are unimpressive or seemingly unlovable. Israel was nothing special, nor did they influence God to love them.
He loved of His own volition. How amazing is His love? How humbling is His love? All you do as a sinner should repel Him from you, yet His love is for you. Nothing can influence Him to stop loving His people.
2: The Love of God is ETERNAL
Because God is eternal, His love began before time even began. Because His love is eternal, it is everlasting love! It has no beginning, and it has no end.
Ephesians 1:4-5 declares, “…in love having predestined us”. In this short phrase, all human effort, comprehension, and wisdom are shattered! He set His love upon the believer before breath entered our lungs. Before the foundation of the earth, He loved us!
3: The Love of God is SOVEREIGN
God is the supreme and independent authority, so nothing controls His love but Him. He is under no obligation to love anyone, and as Psalm 115:3 says, “Our God is in the heavens, He does as He pleases.”
Romans 9:13 contains one of the most eye-opening truths in all of the New Testament about the sovereignty of God in choosing to love. Paul quotes the word of the LORD in saying, “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated,” meaning He chose to favor one above the other for no reason except that He sovereignly chose to.
Did God choose to love you because He “foresaw” that you would love Him back? Did He look down the tunnel of time and decide to choose those who would choose Him? No! Man is not in the driver’s seat of God’s love. Ephesians 1:4-5 describes God’s choice to love us as being “to the good pleasure of His will.”
What a glorious God He is, that He would choose to love us!
4: The Love of God is INFINITE
There is no limit to God’s love. He will never run out of love for His people, nor can you ever use up all the love He gives. His love cannot be fathomed, and it reaches beyond all human comprehension (Ephesians 3:19).
Romans 8:38-39 outlines the beautiful promise that nothing in heaven, hell, or on earth can separate us from the love of God. His infinite love is limitless, unstoppable, and immeasurable.
5: The Love of God is IMMUTABLE
James 1:17 tells us that there is no “shifting shadow” with God, and when it comes to His love, isn’t that a comforting truth? Unlike worldly, fickle, transactional love, God’s love is steady and unchanging. Like His immutable nature, His immutable love does not shift or cease. His lovingkindness and tender mercies towards the believer are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).
When you think of the cast of characters in Scripture who sinned and yet were still loved by God, you can see how His love for you will never change even when you stumble and sin as a believer. Abraham, Moses, Jacob, David, Peter, and a host of others, reminds us that God is a God of unfailing love — even when His people fail.
6: The Love of God is HOLY
Since God is holy, His love is perfect, pure, righteous, and without fault. Not one aspect of God’s love is weak, unfair, soft, or wrong. God’s love never hits the wrong target.
One key truth to remember about God’s love being holy is that He will discipline those whom He loves. Hebrews 12:6 unpacks this reality. God’s love does not wink at sin, nor will He abandon His children in their sin. He will discipline His children because He loves them.
If you ever think something is wrong with God’s love, you can rest assured only you are wrong. If you are ever fearful that His love for you is not perfect enough, cling to the promise that “perfect love casts out fear”(1 John 4:18). You will not be condemned on the day of judgment if you have put your faith in Christ and surrendered your life to a holy God (Romans 8:1).
7: The Love of God is GRACIOUS
When we meditate on the love of God, we need to meditate on the work He sent His Son to accomplish on the cross. It was His love that caused Him to send His only Son to be the Savior (John 3:16). It was love that kept Him on the cross. It is love that will bring our King back one day. Like a bride adorned and waiting for her groom, the church awaits her King. Christ came once, and His love was gracious and redeeming. Christ will come again, and His love will graciously invite us into His kingdom and forever into eternity.
God’s love is gracious because it is unmerited, favorable, freely given, and undeserved.
If you would be faithful to obey the words of Ephesians 5:1-2 and imitate God, then consider His love as you walk in love.
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” - Ephesians 5:1-2
