Any view of God that doesn’t affirm the centrality of His love is deficient. Any dominant mental image of God that we have that doesn’t reflect His loving heart most certainly falls short of the description of God in the Bible. In 1 John 4:16-21, the Apostle John describes the effect of knowing God’s love. First of all, we are freed from our fears including the fear of punishment. Secondly, we are freed to love others. We have a new capacity to love because our hearts are now filled with the assurance of God’s love.