God is Love, not just a "Loving God"

The Bible says:

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1 John 4: 16)

God is love!

AA diminishes this wonderful revelation, speaking of some loving God, or some loving hand of God which takes us out of the reeds of this life.

Yet how can anyone talk about a loving God if we still have to work these Twelve Steps in order to be accepted before Him?

If we have to maintain some kind of regimen so that God will not be separated from us, then what good is love?

It's not unconditional.

Yet the Bible could not be clearer about God's love for us:

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." (1 John 4: 9)

How does this love manifest in our lives?

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:1 10)

He loved us. He loved US. It's not about our love for God first, and the He loves us. The more that I let the simple truth sink in, the more apparent it becomes: how on earth or in heaven or in any other way could I ever love God in my own strength? What kind of love could I demonstrate that would be good enough for God?

Where did I get this dumb idea from, anyway? The AA cult, of course!

Even in more traditional denominations, free from the trappings of "trying to earn it", most people are able to rest, without much fire in their hearts, but at least they can rest to some degree.

This Love does not just take us out of alcoholism, or any other perversion, but rather leads us and guides us.

This love transforms us from death to life, from nothing to everything, in Christ:

"Herein is love perfected among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

Then

"Perfect love casts out all fear." (1 John 4: 18)

and last of all

"We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4: 19)

Some people  may object to my leaving out "Him" from verse 19, yet that object is not there at all in the original text. We love everyone and everything to the degree that we know that He loves us, that His love, which he demonstrates to us in greater measure.

I cannot repeat this enough. We cannot appreciate God's love for us if we think that we still owe God something, that all of His work at the Cross was not enough. We must cast out once and for all this idea that there is something more which must be added. God is love, not just a loving God, and He wants us to receive this love, because there is no other way that we can love Him or anyone else.