God is love, and he who abides in Love abides in God, and God in Him.
(1 John 4:16)
There are four kinds of love: the love of family, love of friends, sexual love and unconditional love. Unconditional love, agape love, is the one mentioned most frequently in the New Testament. It is a love given without obligation or expectation. God ‘s love is unconditional. God’s love can’t be earned or lost. He loves us simply because we are His.
If you abide in love, you abide in God. Abide means “to dwell.” To share agape love, you have to dwell in God and He in you. When you invite God’s Spirit to dwell in you, His love takes up residence in your life. You can’t shake God’s love or dislodge His Spirit from within you. The Holy Spirit gives you the ability to love others the same way God does, without condition. You may consider certain people untouchable or repulsive, but you must reach out to them with God’s love. If we love each other, God lives in us and His love has been brought to full expression through us.
The Holy Spirit gives you the power to love. God has given us His Spirit as proof that we live in Him and He in us. You are to love others in the same unrestricted way God loves you. When you love people without any conditions or exceptions, you are testimony of God’s love. The love Jesus had for us led Him to the cross. The sacrifice that Jesus made upon the cross was made for each of us, and His love endures to the edge of eternity and beyond. That’s a love that lasts.