I love you, O Lord, my strength. -Psalm 18:1 (ESV)

This is not the normal word for love that refers to love as part of a covenant, but instead is a rare verb form that indicates ‘tender intimacy’ (source: John MacArthur).

So often, many of us throw the word ‘love’ around with little regard for its actual meaning. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. -1 John 4:8 John used the word LOVE a lot in his writing and most certainly understood what it means (as best as any man could). He made it clear that GOD is LOVE and we are to emulate that love in our dealings with each other: “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. -John 13:34 (CSB)

Love is a word often used to manipulate people and fool them into a sense of caring on the part of the person offering it that is both false and self-serving. When we use the word LOVE in talking to [or about] God, how are we using it? Do we mean it? Have we come to have the deep and abiding sense of His love that comes gradually from a humble and grateful heart for what He has done for us? Let us hope that this is the case and that we are not self-deceived. Let us work on loving each other the way Christ loved us. Can you imagine what a witness to the world the Church would be if we were corporately paying attention to this commandment?