How do you see God? As a God of love and grace or as a God who only wants to punish people? It is necessary that we have an understanding of who God really is.
At the beginning of my reconciliation with God, I had some difficulty understanding who He really is. So, I want to talk a little today about what I learned of God’s character.
Join me!
The essence of God
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:8
We need to be very clear in our minds that God is all that is good and right, all good things emanate from Him. However, there is a particular characteristic of God that best defines Him: Love.
God does not have a specific amount of love, nor love is one of his “ingredients”, which he takes and puts a little bit in each of us. God is love itself. At the beginning of everything He was love, throughout history He was love and He will always be love.
Therefore, it is essential that we understand the passage from 1 John 4: 8, because in fact, if we do not love our neighbor, we will not know God. After all, how can we say that we know someone, if we don’t know their main characteristic?
One of the main reasons why Jesus came to Earth was precisely to show us that God is love. It was to remove the conception that we had and still have today that God is angry and that he only wants to punish people.
If this were not true, it would not make sense to believe in the fact that Jesus gave himself on the cross for love. For Jesus is the exact expression of the being of God (Hebrews 1: 3) and, if Jesus gave Himself out of love, it means that in that act, He shone the being and the main characteristic of God, which is Love.
The impact on our lives
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
1 John 4: 7
The way we see God is super important and has a huge impact on our lives. Our view of God will impact all areas of our lives.
We can see this in the process of forming a child’s identity, for example: in the vast majority, children who see their parents as rigid people, tend to act the same way with the people around them, when they are older. As well as children who see their parents as peaceful people, they tend to be more calm and tame.
Likewise, it occurs in our relationship with God. If we have the image of God as someone who is bossy and wants our evil, not only we wont let God do His work in our lives, as our relationships with other people will be the same. Insecure relationships, without trust and fearful.
We need to understand that God is love. But not just so that our relationships with other people will improve, but because if we don’t understand that God is love, we don’t understand who He really is.
And now?
Okay, we understand that God is love. But what to do now?
This is exactly where the “Good News” comes in. From the moment we hear about the love of God and receive that love in our being, we have a mission to practice it.
You were and are loved. Love itself (God), loved you and loves you. So don’t keep this to yourself. Receive the biggest and best Love in the world and spread it to people. Don’t let it stop on you!
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”
2 Timothy 4: 2
Jesus not only leaves us with the mission to love one another, but also to spread His Gospel. Therefore, if we aim to be like Christ in our lives, we need to do what He tells us to do.
God is love. He loves you and wants the best for you, so receive that love and pass it on.
Grace and Peace.
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