Defining God’s Love || 1 John 4:9 || Manna for the Mind #179

Welcome to Day 179 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about finding nourishment in the Word of God to get us through the day. In each devotional, I take a variety of scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses each) and build our understanding of what they teach via their context and connecting scripture. My goal is to help you understand how to be the type of human God created you to be. Today’s passage is 1 John 4:9.

1 John 4:9

NASB	NLT	VOICE
9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.	9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.	9 Because of this, the love of God is a reality among us: God sent His only Son into the world so that we could find true life through Him.

This is God’s agape love. It’s a selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. This love is not something that requires us to give anything back in return in order to get it. This love cost God the life of his earthly son in order to solidify the eternal relationship between God and his creation. This love is unconditional, showing that there is nothing we have to do to obtain this kind of love.

There are other types of love described in the New Testament: “eros – romantic love” and “philia – brotherly love” but they are not like agape love. Agape love is not about emotions or feelings but is focused on commitment to the well-being of others. This type of love goes beyond the standard cultural norms of a loving relationship. It’s more than the standard. It goes above and beyond for each person in the relationship, often sacrificing ones’ luxuries to meet the needs of others and serving them in ways and times that may not be the best situation for us at the time.

Next slice of Manna: Manna for the Mind #180