Does God have a personality? If you were to spend a day with him what would you conclude about him? Would he be mean, egocentric, or selfish as some claim gods are? Does he have a sense of humour and so on? What do you think? There’s only one way to find out.
1 John 4:8
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
KJV
If God is love what is love? People spend years and years looking for love and never finding it. Some people have given up on love because to them it’s all a lie and they do not want to get hurt time and again. They say when you have given your heart to someone and that’s when they break it into pieces. Is this the kind of love or person that God is? Here are the twelve physiognomies of love.
The meaning of Love
Because earlier we read that God is the love we will replace the word love with God so that we move on easily.
1 Cor 13:4-8
God Love is patient and kind; God does not envy or boast; God it is not arrogant 5 or rude. God does not insist on his own way; God is not irritable or resentful; 6 God does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 God bears all things, God believes all things, God hopes all things, God endures all things. 8 God’s love never ends.
ESV
Now let us look at them in detail.
God is patient and kind
Matt 18:21-22
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
KJV
How long can you forgive a brother for wrongdoing? Can you go up to 490 times? For some of us not even once and yet God does instruct us to be patient and kind to such extent. In fact, he desires us to be forgiving always. There are healthier benefits to a forgiving spirit than an unkind one. If God were not so patient and kind not one of us would still be alive today. Just by a snap of his finger and the whole universe is reduced to nothing.
God does not envy or boast
Isa 14:12-14
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
KJV
Heb 6:13-14
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
KJV
There is no one greater than God. He is the first and last. He has no competition. Lucifer before he became Satan coveted God’s seat in heaven but was cut down to the ground. It’s a great lesson for us not to be boastful or envious of others. If God were boastful like some men are today would you have liked him? Like Goliath the Philistine Giant [1 Sam 17:8] who stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, it is said that King Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. We would be reminded every day how powerful he is how no one is a match to him and so on and that would be annoying. It’s a great thing he isn’t.
God is not arrogant or rude
Phil 2:5-7
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
KJV
I love this one. Christ in the same position as God humbled himself and became a servant to all so that I and you can be heirs to the everlasting kingdom of God. For the wages of sin is death and we all are destined to die because we have sinned but praise is to God he has paid the price for us by giving up his life as a sacrifice. Imagine if Christ were rude or arrogant and refused to suffer on behalf of men. What would become of us? I believe sudden death, wickedness, misery, and chaos would be the order each day.
God does not insist on his way
2 Cor 9:7
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
KJV
One of the greatest blessings bestowed upon man is the freedom of choice. God does not rejoice in forced obedience. He does not want us to worship him out of fear but out of an understanding and appreciation of his wondrous love towards us. That is why he did not destroy the devil from the very beginning or else angels would have feared him the wrong way. To each one he grants the freedom to choose between right and wrong accepting the conditions of course. Have you been with a person who insists on his way? How irritating was it?
God is not irritable or resentful
Matt 5:44-45
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
KJV
How easily are we offended by wrongdoers? Like the brothers of thunder John and James, how quickly could we have asked God to send fire from heaven to devour our enemies? We, humans, desire sudden justice and revenge but the Lord declares we ought to be loving and forgiving towards others because he too does wonderful things for both the just and unjust. I know it’s difficult but when we pray to God to grant us power he is always willing to support us.
God does not rejoice at wrongdoing
Ezek 33:11
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
KJV
God bears and endures all things
Isa 53:1-5
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
At the cross, Christ bears upon his shoulders all the sins of this world. He suffered unimaginable pain so that we may be rescued from the ravages of sin. He went through all of this because of his endless love for the human race. Oh! What prodigious love no words can describe.
God believes all things
Acts 17:30
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
KJV
Isa 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
KJV
God believes in you and me. He knows that you can change for the better. He is willing to overlook some of the wrongs we have committed so much that you and I may come to good terms with him. He knows you have the power to change. All you need to do is to get hold of his stretched hand and you will never be the same again. Everything is possible to those who believe in him.
God hopes all things
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
KJV
Matt 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
KJV
John 10:16
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
KJV
God is not willing that anybody to be lost so he continually extends his mercy to everyone so that we may all have an opportunity to change our ways and mend our broken relationship with him. With God, there is no hopeless situation all (free or bond rich or poor or sick) are welcome to receive salvation full and free. He is not going to stop until every human race is acquainted with the gospel news of his soon coming. He won’t give up on you; you better not break his heart.
God’s love never ends
Jer 31:3
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.
KJV
God will always love you. He won’t give up on you. You are always his number one priority. The question is do you love him likewise? If you do then praise is to God. If you want to start loving him he is just a prayer away.
That’s it for this week’s lesson I hope you were blessed.
God bless!!
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