Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

                                                                                                                   Genesis 6:5-6

We are coming to a close in our look at the godly attributes that Peter presents. I think it is interesting that Paul begins the list of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) with love and Peter ends his list of godly attributes with love. There is just no way around it, living a godly, Christ-like, Spirit-filled life requires that we love the way that God does.

The word most often used in scripture for love is agape. When you take a close look at this wonderful word, you will find that there are three consistent characteristics used in defining this type of love. We will spend the rest of our study examining each of these traits.

The first of these characteristics is affection. I like to refer to this as one’s disposition toward another. The reality in this life is that we are not going to like everyone in which we come in contact, but as believers, we are instructed to love others and that includes our enemies. If we claim to love another person and, at the same time, do not authentically care about them, we cannot truly say that we love them. We are not talking about romantic love rather a brotherly love expressed between two human beings. To claim to love someone without affection is disingenuous. 

Today’s passage reminds me that even in humanity’s worst condition, God still has affection for us. In Genesis 6, we find that mankind had fallen so far away from God’s original intent that “every thought of his heart was only evil continually.” We can all testify to having evil on our minds at times, to have impure thoughts or motives, but to consider that this was what humanity had become all the time is quite amazing. God responded in two ways: He was sorry that He had made mankind and He was grieved in His heart. This is significant because we get not just a glimpse into heaven, but into the very heart of God. When scripture says that God was sorry that He had made mankind, it literally means that He repented. We often think of repenting as moving away from sin and it can and does mean that, but the definition for repentance is to “change one’s mind.” This is what God is doing. He is changing His mind about having created mankind in the first place.

But it is the second response that I would like for us to examine in light of love and affection. God was grieved in His heart. Only a heart of love can grieve. Christian parents grieve when their children reject God and become spiritually wayward. All parents grieve when their children get caught up in addictions and other destructive behavior. They want better for their children and it is out of a heart of love that they grieve. God grieved because of what mankind had become. God does grieve. Scripture teaches us that Jesus grieved (Luke 19:41), and we can even grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). Because God is love, He has the capacity to grieve over the waywardness of mankind. This didn’t negate the fact that the flood would justly come and destroy all but eight people from the earth, but nevertheless, God was grieved out of a heart of love.

Today, we have the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news that God has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). Rather than condemn us for our transgressions, Jesus came and took our place so that we could be restored. This is God’s love in action. Through the cross, there is redemption, forgiveness, and spiritual freedom for all who would place their faith in Jesus. The most loving and affectionate thing any of us could do today would be to proclaim this good news to someone who desperately needs to know Christ.

Love is affection, a genuine caring for others. Let’s make this the overarching characteristic of our lives today!