God is love (1 John 4:16), and love is his image upon the soul: where it is, the soul is well moulded, and the heart fitted for every good work, Matthew Henry, Acts to Revelation, Volume 6, page 379.
No truer words were written, read, and spoken, God is love.
You and I do not have the liberty of defining love, God does though:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; joiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things
Charity, an archaic term, means: love of mankind
When applied to the scripture placed above, we see this:
For the love of mankind, we must be long suffering, and kind
Love of mankind envies not
Love does not boast
Love does not puff up with pride
Love is not unseemly (improper or inappropriate)
Love does not seek her own (Love is not selfish)
Love is not easily provoked (to anger or retaliation)
Love does not think evilly
Love does not rejoice in iniquity (sin and wickedness)
Love rejoices in truth
Love bears all things
Love believes all things
Love endures all things
Do you, love like the Lord of glory? I sure don't; but I want to. The Bible is the single best source of instruction for life and course correction. If we take what love is, and Love is God, we see opposing ways in those that hath not love, or Love.
Perhaps you can see yourself in the list above, or in the next list below, or a combination therein - each of us has some work to do when it comes to being godly in our love:
Hate for mankind is impatient, and unkind
Hate of mankind is envious
Hate boasts
Hate is arrogantly filled with pride
Hate is improper (immoral and dishonest), and inappropriate
Hate is selfish and self-satisfying at the expense of others
Hate is easily provoked and eager to retaliate
Hate thinks evil thoughts
Hate rejoices in sin and wickedness
Hate rejoices in deception
Hate suffers nothing; is intolerant
Hate believes not in God or mankind
Hate endures nothing; is unyielding
God is love; Satan is hate: we belong to One, or the other, and it is what resides in the heart and shows up in the world, that helps us understand, to which camp a person belongs.
Let us return to Matthew Henry and the quote above, placed here for your convenience:
God is love (1 John 4:16), and love is his image upon the soul: where it is, the soul is well moulded, and the heart fitted for every good work.
Imagine your heart as a mould, filled with the Love of God! Imagine next, that you have been fitted for every good work he has for you - if these images delight you, then might I suggest and point out, that you belong, to him?
We can look at the lists and see there, where we fall short, where there is work to be done. Humbling ourselves before God, confessing our sins, asking for forgiveness, and then asking for his love to fill our hearts, is a great place to start.
Love of mankind is the work of each Christian, and an arduous bit of work it is, because we are not always patient, kind, long-suffering, sometimes we are the opposite. This is when the conscience does his best work in us: the Holy Ghost convicts us of our own iniquity, and has us wanting to try again, to live the image of God, impressed upon the soul.
God is love, dear reader, and it is a very good thing for you and I to know.
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