Love is one of the clearest examples of the One Source principle.

Scripture says:

“God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

This does not mean that love is God. It means that true love has its source in God’s own being. Human love is not ultimate. Human affection does not define love. Human compassion is not self-originating. God defines love, reveals love, and gives love.

The clearest revelation of divine love is the giving of the Son:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

God’s love is not sentimental indulgence. It is holy, costly, redemptive, and Christ-centered. It does not ignore sin; it deals with sin through the cross. It does not flatter man; it saves man. It does not make man the center; it brings man back to God.

John writes:

“We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

This is the One Source principle applied to love. We do not initiate true love from ourselves. We love because God first loved us. Divine love comes first; human love responds. Divine love is the source; human love is the fruit.

Therefore, when Christians love God and love others, they must not turn love into self-glory. Love is not evidence that we are superior. Love is evidence that God’s own love has reached us, changed us, and begun to flow through us.

Love comes from God, is formed in us by God, flows through us to others, and returns glory to God.