“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”  ~John 3:13-17~

What is love? Merriam-Webster dictionary says: “An unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another: such as the fatherly concern of God for humankind; brotherly concern for others; a person’s adoration of God”

Love is not an emotion…love is a promise. The promise God made to us when He sent the flood to destroy evil but vowed to never to do it again. The promise He made to give us eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. This is the “fatherly concern of God for humankind.” 

Our love for others is again is not an emotion, but a promise. Showing “brotherly concern for others.” Here are some questions and answers from Billy Graham to help us understand what love is:

Q: Sometimes my fiancé gets very angry and fairly violent, although he always apologizes and says it won’t happen again. Should I be concerned?
A: True love puts the other person first, as Christ loves us.

Q: I think we ought to be free to enjoy life any way we want, instead of being restricted all the time by a bunch of outdated rules.

A: Don’t get caught in a trap—the trap that says you are free to do anything you want and you won’t suffer any consequences. God has given us certain moral and spiritual rules–not to restrict us, but to protect us. He knows the dangers we face when we ignore those laws, and He loves us too much to let us live any way we want. The Bible says:

“Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.” ~ Deuteronomy 12:28~

 Q: I always seem to fall for someone who say they love me, but end up using me then dropping me. Why can’t I get it right?
A: We all want to be loved, and we all want to love in return—and there’s nothing wrong with that, because God gave us the ability to love. The Bible says:

 “We love because he first loved us” ~1 John 4:19~

Think of it: Love is a gift from God!

The greatest discovery you’ll ever make is that God loves you and wants you to become part of His family. You are very valuable to Him—so valuable that His only Son was willing to give His life for you.

Ask God to help you to make right decisions about your future, and to avoid old friends who will tempt you to do wrong. The Bible says:

“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:33

Ask Him also to lead you to a church where you can grow in your faith, and also meet people who will love and encourage you.

Q: I have a very hard time believing that God loves me. I think the reason is because I never had a kind or loving father, so I can’t imagine God is kind or loving either. My father was very abusive before he finally abandoned us.

A: You may be right about why you feel this way about God. Many people do what you have done; they transfer the feelings they have toward their parents over to God.

But listen, these feelings are not true! Parents are imperfect–but God is not. Parents may fail us–but God does not. Parents may not love us as they should–but God does. To put it another way, your emotions may be understandable–but they are deceiving you.

Q: How do we know God loves us?

A: We know it because Jesus Christ was willing to leave Heaven’s glory and die on the cross for us. The Bible says:

“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ~ 1 John 3:16~

So, you see love is not a feeling, love is not an emotion, love is an action, love is a promise. Reach out to someone today with true Christian love and help them to get through life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

If you don’t know Jesus, remember this, God loves you completely and unconditionally! Ask Him to come into your heart today, and then thank Him every day for His amazing love for you.