"The Love of God"

"Like a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him." (Psalms 103:13)
Not that it makes any difference, but we are not capable of loving God as He deserves to be loved. I know Jesus said for us to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, but to be honest, we fall short in so many different ways of doing that, the first and greatest commandment. Heck, we can't even complete the second greatest command, to love one another as we love ourselves. As to whether or not it makes any difference, it really does not; God loved us first, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us! What that actually means, is that God loved us while we were sinners; He loved us so much, that He needed to save us from our sinful condition, because He knows the true condition of our hearts. If we could somehow save ourselves, then we would be boastful little brats and not have any respect for God's love at all. This fear thing that David keeps talking about is the kind of fear that makes us understand our real condition, that we are wicked sinners that need God to show mercy upon us, otherwise we would be toast. That is what John was getting across in those few verses, that we are sinners needing to be saved; and as soon as we think we don't need to be saved anymore, then we slip back into darkness and the truth is no longer governing our lives. We need to be needy of God mercy and grace, constantly, each and every waking moment of our lives. As soon as we think, for even a moment, that we have arrived to some sort of holy point of our journey, we have bought into the greatest lie of all time. As long as we are in this earthly state, we are corrupt; this body is corrupt, what makes us think that we can change it? It will be changed, but not here, not on this earth. Paul says, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10) We have our strength in Christ; if we are not dependent upon Jesus for the power it takes to do what it takes, then we are worthless and not going to love as God would have us to love...
"The LORD of Heaven's Armies says, "The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed -roots, branches, and all. "But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet." says the LORD of Heaven's Armies." (Malachi 4:1-3) NLT