1 John 4:8 - "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." Christianity is unique. No other religion is based on pure, unadulterated love. Nothing can compare to the impossible relationship we are allowed to have with our Creator and His children.
Between God and Us
"For God so loved the world..." One of the most well-known verses in the Bible speaks first of God's love for us. That, however, barely scratches the surface. The word "love" in all of its various forms is found 432 times in the King James, and the word "charity" (translated as "love" in many Bibles) is found 24 times. God wants us to know something more than anything and that is that He loves us more than we can possibly imagine, and He wants us to love Him in return. God goes to extraordinary lengths for our love, summarized as follows:
He chooses - God chooses each and every one of us personally to love and with whom to have a perfect relationship. Before we even knew who we were, He knew He wanted us.
"Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called..." - Romans 8:30a
"So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen." - Matthew 20:16
"And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. " - Mark 13:20
"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: " - Ephesians 1:4
He pursues - God wants us so much that He will go to any lengths to take hold of us. He sent His own Son to chase after us on this earth.
"We love him, because he first loved us." - 1 John 4:19
"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law," - Galatians 4:4
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." - 1 John 4:10
He rescues - We were dead in our sins, in an unbreakable bond of wickedness. Then God swept down as Jesus Christ and sacrificed His life to save us.
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." - Luke 19:10
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8
"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." - John 3:17
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;" - Titus 3:5
He woos - Even after dying for us, God continues to yearn for our affection. Therefore He gives and gives of His love and mercy, doing all He can, simply to win us over to Him.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13
"And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. " - Ephesians 5:2
He protects - Before and after He wins us over, He works overtime to protect us from the hordes of evil that assail us day in and day out.
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31
"Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father" - Galatians 1:4
"...Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's." - 2 Chronicles 20:15b
"And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." - 2 Timothy 2:18
He lavishes - When we are securely in His grasp, loving Him and being loved by Him, we can see His love in the way He constantly lavishes us with wonderful gifts and blessings.
"Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee." - Hebrews 6:14
"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven." - John 6:32
"Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;" - 1 Timothy 6:17
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." - James 1:5
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" - Ephesians 1:3
God loves us. He loves us so much. Out of eternity, even in the midst of the perfect love between the Father and the Son communicated by the Holy Spirit, He made a plan with some terrible pain for Himself, but a new indescribable love for millions. He offered the ultimate sacrifice to bring us to Himself. He wants us; He yearns for our affection. He completely doesn't need us, but more than we can imagine He wants us. In perfect love, God chooses us, pursues us, rescues us, woos us, protects us, and lavishes His blessings upon us. He wants to come down, wrap us in His arms, and never let us go as He whispers His word of love into our ears. God wants us, and wants us to love Him. One day, He wants to look at you, say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant," and hold you in an embrace that will create in you a euphoria that will last for eternity.
Between Us and Others
You're not the only person God loves more than possible. He loves us all, each and every person. He wants a relationship with every man, and cares for each unbelievably. However, love has a kind of anger. Love hates to see its object hurt. The wrath of love is aroused when the object of affection is abused. God loves us all, and whenever any one of us hurts another, God becomes angry. If we love God, we don't want to make Him angry, and thus we must love who He loves. We must love all people.
Many people are unlovable. Some may often exasperate you. However, we are called to rise about our feelings and love, to love like Jesus loves. Jesus loves that person who you can't stand so much that He died a cruel, bloody death on a cross unjustly to pay for the mistakes of that person and secure their eternal life. That person wronged Jesus innumerable times, but Jesus loved him, still loves him, more than we can comprehend. How much more then, when that person wrongs me, a sinner who has done wrong to him as well, should I forgive and love? We are on equal ground with our neighbors, and Christ far above, yet we want to hold grudges and suppress love. God is love; we want to suppress God because of something someone did to us. God forbid!
Let us love like Jesus. Jesus would take a death on a cross before He slacked in love towards anyone, so let us be willing to die for anyone, no matter what they may have done. God has called us to live in harmony with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to live in peace with the unbeliever (harmony and peace not necessarily being the same). Romans 12:18 says, "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." We are to love and be loved by everyone we meet. Let us not fail. Let us see all people through the eyes of the one who longs for them more than life.