Christians have long recognized that one of the essential attributes of God is love. Before God acted to create, he existed in an eternal, harmonious, and deeply satisfying loving relationship with himself. We may frown upon self-love as a human ideal, but for God to love himself is altogether right as he shows us what love is and points us to love that which is ultimately lovely. If the highest end of man is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matt. 22:37) then isn't it appropriate for God to do the same?
We need not shy away from God's self-love since we know that this operates at the Trinitarian level. God's love is other-oriented and is expressed freely within the Trinity itself. The Father loves the Son (John 3:35; 5:20; 17:23, 24, 26), just as the Son loves the Father (John 14:31). The Spirit is beloved by the Father and the Son and similarly loves both the Father and Son in return. "God is love" after all (1 John 4:8, 16).
This is important for us to grasp because God's love is the paradigm for all human expressions of love. "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us" (1 John 4:10). So we don't start with human expressions of love and conclude that's how God must love himself, but, as with all things, we start with God's love and allow that to shape the love that we share in our relationships. Why is this important? Because we have so many distortions of love in our relationships.
From romantic or passionate love to lust to self-centered neediness to all the different love "languages," we can definitely conclude that our expressions and conceptions of love cannot form a solid and stable foundation on which to build a clear definition of love. On top of this, think of all the different ways we use the word love every day. I love my wife, my children, coffee, Thai food, sports, dark beer, and a host of other things. I would dare not suggest that my love for these people and things is exactly the same, though there may be some overlap. But all this falls short of God's love if it is not informed and influenced by his revelation. Consider what Jesus said when he instructed his disciples to do the unthinkable in loving their enemies: "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you . . . If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them" (Luke 27-28, 32). If all we have is our conceptions of love then we have no room in our lives for this exhortation. It is nonsensical.
God loves freely and perfectly because his love is not conditioned by the objects of his love nor is his existence dependent on their reciprocation of his love. That is why the Bible declares that God's love is extraordinary. He remains committed through covenantal love to his faithless subjects and ultimately displays this love through a crucified Messiah for a hostile world filled with sinners who have rejected him and his ways. The early Christians were astonished by God's love shown in Jesus because they knew how bad they were and what it cost God to save them. Nowadays, we tend to assume that God loves us because we're American or white or because we're not as bad as some people. "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). It is this type of love that Christians are exhorted to display. In fact, if we do not love in this way then this shows that we don't "know God" (1 John 4:8). May we strive then to "keep ourselves in the love of God" (Jude 21).