Love of God can mean either love for God or love by God.
Love for God (philotheia) is associated with the concepts of piety, worship, and devotions towards God.
Love by God for human beings (philanthropia) is lauded in Psalm 52:1: "The steadfast love of God endures all the day"; Psalm 52:8: "I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever"; Romans 8:39: "Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God"; 2 Corinthians 13:14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all"; 1 John 4:9: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him"; etc.
The Greek term theophilia means the love or favour of God, and theophilos means friend of God, originally in the sense of being loved by God or loved by the gods; but is today sometimes understood in the sense of showing love for God.
The Greek term agape is applied both to the love that human beings have for God and to the love that God has for man.
Read more about Love Of God: Bahá'í Faith, Christianity, Greek Polytheism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Other
Famous quotes containing the words love of, love and/or god:
“His talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust on a butterfly’s wings. At one time he understood it no more than the butterfly did and he did not know when it was brushed or marred. Later he became conscious of his damaged wings and of their construction and he learned to think and could not fly any more because the love of flight was gone and he could only remember when it had been effortless.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“Tragedy looks to me like man in love with his own defeat.
Which is only a sloppy way of being in love with yourself.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“The inclination to self-depreciation, to freely accepting being robbed, being duped, and being swindled, could be the modesty of a god among men.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)