Godly love is a lot like Godly fear or Godly joy; there’s definitely more than meets the eye when measuring “love”, and the Christian’s demonstration of Godly love, according to Scripture. There may not be a more important human emotion to consider under the lens of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:11-13:
“For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”
Godly love must be defined by the Spirit of God (God’s word), not man’s dictionary or emotions. The apostle John focuses on the concept of love so much that he has come to be known by many today as the “apostle of love.” He writes in 1 John 4:8 that “God is love” and then says that “we love becuase he first loved us.” So is the love by which we love actually a Godly love?
How Scripture answers "What is Godly love?"
The Godly love we see defined in the Bible is emotional and caring3,5,6,8, but is always rooted in God’s word7,9 and a deliberate1,3 intent to act on it2,4,5,6,8. This is nothing like how the world would define today. For example, the application of a completely unselfish1 and never-ending1 love would fix all marriages and immediately end divorce in this world. A perfect Godly love is the perfect fulfillment of God’s law6 and is best demonstrated in Jesus’ guiltless death on the cross for all of mankind3,4,5.
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