Agape - God’s Sacrificial Love

The love of God has been defined as an unconditional, sacrificial love. The Bible uses the Greek word agape to describe  a kind of love that is willing to do anything, go any distance, overcome any obstacle for someone else. That kind of love is even willing to sacrifice one’s self, expecting nothing in return.

God’s love is exactly that. God’s love is so deep and so pure that He gave His own Son to save us fyou and me. God’s love surpasses any love that the world has ever known. It is expressed in the most famous Bible verse of all:

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

God doesn’t love the way the world does. Love isn’t an empty promise to Him and it isn’t just talk.  He IS love. So, when God says the He loves you, He loves you. There is no hesitancy or doubt. No half-in, half-out, wishy-washy, namby-pamby sort of love.

No. He poured His love out in a way that left no doubt. His love came in power and in strength and it offered itself up in a complete sacrifice that gave up everything. All that, to tell you that God loves you and His love is strong enough to overcome any barrier and to knock down any wall. John put it this way:

1 John 4:10-11

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Do you see that last sentence? Love acts. It doesn’t just sit back and soak things in. It responds by pouring that love out on somebody else. That is His goal for us: that we love the way He does.

Can you imagine a world that loves like that? Just think how we could change the world. Now THAT is love!