John 3:16’s best translation, NJB reveals God’s primary love language.
I hate being a party pooper but there is a right way and wrong way to read John 3:16 based on the Greek. This won’t affect anyone’s salvation, but for those that want to know, The New Jerusalem Bible translation is one of the only ones that words it so English readers don’t misread its intent....
“For this is how God loved the world…”
Most of us when we read “God so loved the world” we think of it as “God loved the world SO much”. While the English can mean this, the Greek probably does not (see BDAG lexicon). The translators employed the English word “so” as in “thus and so”. We know God does love the world SO much, but that’s not what the Holy Spirit intended to communicate here. Here, he wants us to know HOW God loved. God loved by giving. Gary Chapman, maybe God’s love language is gifts. ;)
For those of you whose love language is gifts, think for a moment what it does to you if someone rejects one of your gifts, or just doesn't care about it. It’s devastating. Think for a moment what it does to God if God is truly a giver. Maybe God speaks all love languages equally, but if he does, than he is equally devastated by them all. Someone might think that God can’t experience emotional pain like this since he’s God. I think Jesus sufficiently proved that God can and does suffer.
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