Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised. – Song of Solomon 8:7

In this passage, God speaks of the greatness of love demonstrating for us the importance of a right understanding of it in our world today.  By all accounts, the words “I love you” get bantered about with such frequency and so little understanding, it is no wonder that people have a very skewed and limited knowledge of what love actually is.

Insert God into this picture and watch as things become clearer.  By His very nature, God not only understands love, but in fact is the embodiment of love in creation.  1 John 4:8 says it in the plainest of terms: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 

So if this is true, what does that mean when it comes to love and our understanding of it in our lives?  I believe that it means if we are ever going to truly know and experience love here on earth, we must first experience it in the spiritual realm of our relationship with the Father.  Time and time again, God demonstrates His vast love for us and how it spurs Him to act on our behalf and for our benefit.  God created us in His own image out of love.  God gave men and women to each other so that we might have suitable partners with whom we can share love.  God gave us children with a strong bond of love to drive us to meet their every need.  This love we have for our own children further shows us His great love for us.  Through the sacrifice of His own dear Son, Jesus Christ, we are restored and renewed by a demonstration of the greatest love the world has ever seen.  How can we not see this, feel it, live it, and not want to share it with those people God has brought to accompany us upon life’s path?

Thus, our desire should be to extend this great love to others through our continued love and service to God the Father.  By His strength and under His anointing, we can accomplish this, and in the process, provide one another with the greatest gift we can give, now and forever in Him.