The Love of God versus the Love of Human Beings

The love of God and the natural love of human beings is of such different quality that it is hard to call them by the same word. God's love flows out of who He is. It is not based on anything about us - it is unconditional, yet fully emotional. Our love, on the other hand, is based on the object of our love, not on who we are. We love some people more than others because of what they mean to us. Therefore, our love always has an element of selfishness to it. This distinction between the basis of God's love versus our love is huge. This is especially true since our hearts are deceitful above all else (Jer 17:9). As a result, we walk through life with a selfish love and with a heart that is constantly trying to justify and deceive ourselves about our motives.

On the other hand, when we experience the love of the Father and walk in His love, all of our love needs are so completely and overflowingly met that we can love without any hidden motive or agenda. It is a freely given, genuine love that is based on the love we have, not the love we want. Just as apart from Christ we can do nothing (and yet we actually do a lot of things, just nothing that matters), apart from the love of the Father, we cannot love (although we can express the best human imitation of the love God wants us to walk in).