John 4:19 tells us that we love because he first loved us, and without the love that god has shown humans would be incapable of this emotion. God's love is similar to that of a stern but fair father. We are expected to follow god's tenets and commandments and in return we are given grace and the opportunity for life everlasting. God comes first in everything that we do, and all of the love that we have flows through him. God's love is unconditional, just like the love of a parent, but it can also be a firm and expectant kind of love as well. The love from our heavenly father is a grace that we do not deserve, and because god loves and forgives us this allows us to love and forgive others who may have hurt us in some way.

No matter what you do in this life it is possible to feel the love of god as long as you repent for your sins and regret any harm to others that you are responsible for. Like children we make mistakes and must accept the consequences, but even when we are at our lowest point our heavenly father does not stop loving and guiding us. God provides a template for parents to follow because his love never wavers, it is a patient love that is always present even when we are not worthy. This allows us to know what true love is and as a result we can show this emotion to others because we have experienced it firsthand.