GOD IS LOVE 1JN 4:15 and 1 COR 13:3

1Jn 4:15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
1Jn 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
1Jn 4:17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

1Co 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1Co 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1Co 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1Co 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1Co 13:8 Love never fails.
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Today 1 cor 13 has new meaning for me. I still look to it as a guideline of how I need to treat those around me (and still wish I could take back the times I did not behave this way in the past), but there is something else that I feel God is trying to tell us here. I have read this verse a couple of times over the last couple of months. It dawned on me today that God is love. I mean yes, I have heard this before and I knew it was in the Bible. But this hit me like WOW!!! If God is love, then God feels this way towards us! God is using these guidelines in His relationship with us! If you replace the word love or it with God in this verse, you see the true nature of God’s love for us. I decided to read the verse again where it states that God is love, and it added the other piece of the puzzle for me. If we acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in us and we live in him just like Jesus did. In this way, love is made complete among us. The more we focus on Jesus, who is the very nature of God, the more we will reflect His image of love that Paul speaks of in this verse. This entire time I have been reading this verse, and then trying to force myself to behave this way towards those that I love. I have been failing miserably. Our human nature is to act the exact opposite way. It makes sense that God continually urges us to focus on Him and His Kingdom and assures us the rest will fall into place. I truly feel I would have never had this revelation (for me anyway it was), if I had not been diligently studying His Scriptures, and praying and asking Jesus to transform me into His likeness. His Kingdom is like a grab bag of secrets that you get to stick your hand into and pull out a prize. Only you don’t need a ticket or cash to play, you need only seek Him with all your heart (no this is not a parable in the Bible, it just popped in my head). Thank you so much Father for Your Grace! You are truly an awesome God! XOXO