What does God's love mean? To members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of the greatest joys in life is to feel the love of God, a love so sweet and so sanctifying that deep hurts are healed. Tranquility trumps pain. Life somehow seems brighter, more hopeful. Some think of God as a dispassionate being ready to punish us. On the contrary, we are His children. He loves us with a godly love. He knows each of us individually. Because of His infinite love for us and His desire for us to become like Him, He presented a plan--a plan of salvation. We know from reading the scriptures that there was a great war in heaven as a result of Lucifer's rebellion against the Father's plan. God's chosen plan required a Savior for our sins because agency was core to the plan. This is referred to in the scripture "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This plan granted us the agency to decide for ourselves whether we would choose the things of God or the ways of the world. Because we would surely make mistakes, the plan required a Savior: His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ--one who would pay the price for our sins, making it possible for us to repent and become clean and progress to become more like Him and our Heavenly Father. "The birth, life, and atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ are the greatest manifestations of God's love for His children," said David A. Bednar, an Apostle of Jesus Christ in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jesus Christ made it possible to repent of our sins, that we might return to live with God someday. So here we are, born with mortal bodies that are subject to pain and death. Here we learn and gain understanding by our own experience. Here we choose to be happy or sad. God's love isn't something we earn. It is always available for us. Like sunshine, the light of God's love is continuously streaming. No matter how lost we may feel, we are not out of His reach to reclaim us. He wants us to become like Him and possess all His divine attributes. He wants us to gain experience, increasing in knowledge and righteousness and love. He wants us to be happy, to find eternal purpose in life. More than anything, He wants us to choose to follow the example of the Savior. If we have this type of love, "when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Heavenly Father's love for us makes it possible to achieve eternal life, and our love for Him will motivate us to progress and reach our full potential to become like God. Now you know.