So if that word is so important to the story of the Bible...

So if that word is so important to the story of the Bible... ...and if God himself uses it to describe himself—it’s as if God wants to emphasize, “There are a lot of ideas out there about who I am, but at my core, I’m the God of unfailing, faithful, and steadfast love.” And it’s not just the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament that describes God as “faithful love.” The New Testament picks up on this, too! One instance specifically is when John makes this a primary emphasis of one of his letters: “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first” (1 John 4:7-19, NLT). Notice he writes, “God is love.” Not “God is loving.” Not “God shows love.” He writes, “God is love.” Love is who he is. Love is how he operates. Love informs what he does. Love is the best we can do at trying to summarize who he is in a word. And God’s love was best expressed through Jesus who laid down his life for his friends. Which, if you’ve looked at those verses recently, is where Jesus defines perfect love. Check it out (hint: John 15:13-17). So question: When you think about God, is faithful love the first thing that comes to mind? If so, how have you experienced it? If not, what comes to mind instead of faithful love? And if God is best characterized as a God of love, what does this mean for how we should understand topics like “judgment” or “wrath” or the Old Testament stories that make us feel uncomfortable? Ḥeseḏ is a really important word, and perhaps the most important word to understanding not only the Psalms but who God is. He is a God of faithful love. Would you like to learn more about God and practice hearing his voice? We’ve got just the thing to help! Visit reclaimtoday.org/psalms