I’m sure we would all agree that there are different types of love. There is the love you might have for a relative, a friend, a lover, a famous person you admire, a mentor, a hobby, a sport, a food, a place, etc. Love, in a sense, can be relative.
However, when talking specifically about love for people in general, depending on who you ask to define the word love, you will typically get a variety of answers that are similar to how the Webster’s dictionary defines it:
But what is the biblical definition of love?
Defining love is the foundation of learning how to love others. As Christians, if we don’t first understand what love is, how in the world could we even begin to love anyone else, or ourselves for that matter.
I will give you the most concise definition that the bible gives: God is love.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:7-10 NIV
This short passage tells us a lot. Here are 4 key points (I will make a 5th one in the next section):
God Himself is love. He is the definition and epitome of love, the creator and source of it, and the ultimate demonstrator of love!