1 John 4:16b

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

(v16b, NIV)

John makes this statement that God is love. Have you ever heard that? I've heard it said before, God is love. I've heard it said that this makes sense to say it about God because God is three persons in one (the Trinity). Love requires two people or two different things. Well, you can love yourself, but for the purpose of the illustration I've heard, I think it was discounted. To love is to give love and for another to receive it. If God is really three persons in one, God can be love because he can give love and receive love in a separate person of his personhood. If God was only one person, then he could only be described as loving and not as love.

Regardless of whether that makes sense or not, the fact remains that God is love. As we read earlier, those who love have been born of God and know God. God is the one who shows us what love is. He is the originator and the initial giver of love. If God is love, an equation is established. Therefore, those who live in love also live in God. This abiding is established again by relating to those who live in love. These people live in God and God in him.