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Love is a key attribute of God in Christianity. 1 John 4:8 and 16 state that "God is love; and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." [13] [14] John 3:16 states: "God so loved the world..." [15] In the New Testament, God's love for humanity or the world is expressed in Greek as agape (ἀγάπη).
Love of God can mean either love for God or love by God. Love for God (philotheia) is associated with the concepts of worship, and devotions towards God.[1]The Greek term theophilia means the love or favour of God, [2] and theophilos means friend of God, originally in the sense of being loved by God or loved by the gods; [3] [4] but is today sometimes understood in the sense of showing love ...
The love of Christ for his disciples and for humanity as a whole is a theme that repeats both in Johannine writings and in several of the Pauline Epistles. [12] John 13:1, which begins the narrative of the Last Supper, describes the love of Christ for his disciples: "having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end."
In the Gospel of John, Jesus said: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (NIV, John 13:34–35; cf. John 15:17). Jesus also taught "Love your enemies." (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27).
Love can have other meanings in English, but as used in the New Testament it almost always refers to the virtue of caritas. Many times when charity is mentioned in English-language bibles, it refers to "love of God", which is a spiritual love that is extended from God to man and then reflected by man, who is made in the image of God, back to God.
To love God is to wish Him all honour and glory and every good, and to endeavour, as far as one can, to obtain it for Him. John 14:23 notes a unique feature of reciprocity that makes charity a veritable friendship of man with God. "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling ...
Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. ' "
The Pauline epistles also include a number of references to the Holy Spirit, with the theme which appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:8 [40] – "...God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit" – appearing throughout his epistles. [41] In John 14:26, [42] Jesus also refers to "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name". [43]