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. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (ESV)

I once read that “we are not gods, we are God’s.” My initial interpretation of this idea is that we must not think that we are equal to or above God but must humbly recognize that we belong to a God much mightier than we.

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But considering today’s verse from 1 John, this phrase takes on another beautiful layer: since God is love, God defines love. In effect, we are not gods who can create our own idea of love, but we are God’s creation that finds true life only in his design and definition of love.

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Our world has convinced us that God’s design of love is outdated, but when Jesus first taught the lessons of the New Testament, his listeners were amazed at the new commands: Love your enemy as yourself? The poor are to be exalted? Non-Jewish people are also called to be children of the Most High God? Women are to be honored and equally valued? This love was groundbreaking.

But now, we’ve heard this for thousands of years. We’ve become numb to the perfect love God exudes from his being. The wealthy are to be generous? The children of God are to be humble servants? Our sexuality is designed by God? Our bodies are temples, not to be mistreated and degraded? Others are not for us to judge, but for us to treat as we would ourselves? These ideas have turned from new to old, and the world is looking for the next big thing from which to extract a sense of love. We’re failing to remember that God is love, and God’s love is as big as it gets.

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In the same way that wind is wind and light is light, 1 John says that “God is love” and is incapable of anything less. When I think of love, I first think of my mom’s selflessness toward me, my husband’s morning prayers, or my sister’s adoration of baby animals. While I have faith that these things make God smile, his love is more than a feeling. His love is a being.

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To walk in his love, we must identify as the beings he intended, which in our truest form are radiant vessels through which we portray our God to the rest of his creation. To do this, we must not believe the lie that God’s design for our lives is removed from ultimate, perfect love. We must not convince ourselves or others that anything from the mouth of our Savior is meant to condemn, diminish, or keep us from “really living.” Real life comes from real love, and every word uttered by our Savior is meant to do only that—save.

God, thank you for not only creating love, but for truly being love. Please help me to see where I keep your love at arm's length and am hesitant to let you in. Shine light on the areas of my life where I have replaced you with a counterfeit love. Teach me to trust in your love. I love you, Father, and I pray in Jesus’ name that tomorrow, love will mean more to me that it does today. Amen.