The word “love” is a common word that is used in a variety of contexts. For example, love is often used to denote the romance and intense feeling of passion between two individuals. It is also used in ways that are not romantic (e.g. I love football). Love is a word that means different things to different people. That is because for one, experiences often shape how we define words.

In addition, the world as a collective has its own definition of what love is. However, what is love truly defined as? 1 John 4:7-11 gives us what the definition of love is.

(NKJV) “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 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 through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

First, take note of what the first verse says, which is “love is of God.” Love as a concept and as it is meant to be defined comes from God Himself. This is qualified when the writer the Apostle John says, “God is love.” Before we can truly understand what love is, we must acknowledge that love has already been defined by God, because love is who He is. It is God’s character to love, which is why Jesus was sent as a sacrifice to reconcile humanity back to God.

It was God’s love for His creation, that prompted the sacrifice of Jesus so that we as humans could have an unbroken relationship with God the Father. If we do not know who God is, then we do not have a clear definition of love. We are also unable to love properly, if we do not have a connection to God through Christ, because it is required in order to know what love is, and to love others.

To be clear, the world has its varying definitions of what love is. As mentioned, it is often based on what a person experiences or their own world view of the concept of love. What makes the world’s definitions of love inaccurate, is that in most cases, it is not based on knowing God. Rather, it is based on self, or the views of others. Looking to the world as a means to define, will often leave incomplete pictures because the world around us does not take its cues from God. Instead, the Bible makes it clear that the world system is dominated by Satan Himself.

Ephesians 2:2 says (NLV) “
You followed the sinful ways of the world and obeyed the leader of the power of darkness. He is the devil who is now working in the people who do not obey God.”

Since Satan is the one who has influence over the world, he perverts all that is good. Therefore, it becomes altered automatically, which means anything that comes from the world view is taken from Satan first. Since that is the case, that also includes the view of what love is. It should be known that because God is love, then He is the one who shows us what love is and how to love. Without Him, we are left to make up what we believe love to be, and sometimes, there are toxic examples that some have justified to state what love is.

The other part of 1 John 4:7-11 that is important to take note of, is that God loved His creation (us) first. We did not love God, rather, it was His love for us that caused Him to send Jesus as a substitute for the penalty of sin that we all owe. Knowing this, it means that from the very beginning, God loved us, even in the midst of our sinful condition.

Do you know Jesus in the pardon of your sins? If you don’t know Jesus, today is the day to give your life to Christ through repentance, the acknowledgment of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross and Him rising again from the dead. Once you come to the knowledge of Christ, you will be able to truly love and understand what it means to love and be loved. Knowing God through Christ, gives us the correct and only way to understand love as it was meant to be.