Love is often considered among the most ambiguous words in the English language, but part of the reason for that is because we’re not letting God inform us. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul says in chapter 8, verse 3, “whoever loves God is known by God.”

 

This comes in the middle of Paul’s rebuke towards those fixated on knowledge in and of itself. Yet Paul strikes a connection between being known and being loved that confronts us for what we’re truly living for.

 

NY Times Best-Selling author Tim Keller says, “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything.” Perhaps you’ve tried to understand love through romanticism, but hasn’t it left you holding on to that feeling by a thread? Or you’ve been vigilant in knowing those around you or knowing the trade you’re in, but hasn’t this too left you feeling insecure.

 

To truly understand love, we must respond to God. The more we understand how He loves us, the more we’ll be able to effectively love others.