The Bible speaks a great deal about love. But what does it mean when it says that “God is love”? Let’s find out as we discuss this important attribute of God.

To say God is love is to say that God is the essence of love. Or, maybe a better way to say it is that perfect love resides in and resonates from God Himself: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The three persons of God, or what we call the Trinity, enjoy perfect love between one another, and their perfect love overflows into the rest of creation. 

Here’s why this matters:

Most people define love by our subjective experience of it. By our relationships and feelings. But when we define love by our perspective, we wind up with a diminished view of what love really is, especially if we have not experienced a healthy expression of love. 

But even the best, healthiest, and most powerful experiences of love—the genuine love between close friends, the love between parents and children, or between husbands and wives—are a dim reflection of God’s love. 

They are a sign pointing to the perfect love that resides within God. And that love is so much bigger. It is so much better! And we see that love most clearly in the gospel itself, as Jesus Christ demonstrated His love for us most clearly by giving His life so that we might be reconciled to God.