"God is Love", but how do we define that statement?

The American Heritage Dictionary defines love as "an intense affection for another person based on familial or personal ties". We love other people, or we say we love other people, when we are attracted to them and when they make us feel good. Notice that a key phrase in the dictionary definition of love is the phrase "based on". This phrase implies that we love conditionally; in other words, we love someone because they fulfill a condition that we require before we can love them. How many times have you heard or said, "I love you because you are cute;" or "I love you because you take good care of me;" or "I love you because you are fun to be with"? In a former article about love I mentioned a quote of C.S. Lewis, who said that all human loves are partially selfish. We all have known loves that at times have failed us, and the truth is that all loves will fail. Your boyfriend will break up; your friends will leave you alone; your family will leave you when you turn to Jesus. However, Jesus will never leave you: The best friend to have is Jesus, John 15:15, IV. "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you." We love based on feelings and emotions that can change from one moment to the next. In the Philippines, the separation rate is extremely high, because the idea for love is that love is based on feelings. They may go through a rough patch in their marriage, and they no longer "feel" love for their spouse, so they call it quits. Many of my friends, here or in the US, have fathers who have left them, or fathers who left at an early age. Most of my friends have had bitter or heart wrentching experiences. All of my friends have felt apathy when expressing some feeling dear to them. What experiences have you felt that made you feel bitter or resentful toward friends or family? Jesus' love is unconditional. In fact, agape love means much more than that: it's a love without condition, and a love with infinite power. It combines with grace to create the greatest love ever known. Can anyone really comprehend "unconditional" love? It seems the love that parents have for their children is as close to unconditional love as we can get without the help of God's love in our lives. But it's hard to understand or to duplicate. The best way to experience this eternal, agape love, is to accept God's grace, through faith. Even through faith means through love, because God's love allows us to accept it. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Genesis 1:31). Accept Him today. Let His love dwell in your life. Let your life show His love.