God's love is not a blanket affection for all humanity as the world often assumes. His love for the world is impersonal, existing only in relation to His overall purpose, and lacks the warm, personal concern He reserves for His children. While He serves His creation by showing kindness to the unthankful, enduring the wicked with long-suffering, and providing for both the just and unjust, this is far from the fullness of His love. He does not grant the ungodly access to Him, nor does He give them His Spirit or forgiveness unless they reciprocate His love through belief and obedience. In contrast, God's special love is directed toward His saints, those who are His own and return His love by keeping His commandments. He demands reciprocity in this relationship, a mutual exchange of action where His love flows to those who respond to Him. His love for His children is intimate and full, forming a bond that grows stronger as they reflect His image. To the godly, He is a Savior, preserving them, while the ungodly face His stern justice if they reject Him. God's love, therefore, is differentiated in intensity. He does not love everyone equally, nor does He expect His children to show the same depth of affection to the world as they do to their brethren. His concern for the ungodly is rational, dominated by His purpose, while He hates sin and the actions of those who persist in it. Yet, due to His perfect control, He endures with patience, working toward His plan without immediate destruction. True love for God is shown by submitting to Him, not to the world, and by reciprocating His love through a life aligned with His will.

God does not love everybody to the same degree. God clearly chooses whom He will love. God does not love the devil because there is absolutely nothing in him to love. The devil hates God and God knows full well that love given to satan will never change him. His nature is fully set in him to be perpetually evil. There are differences in His degree of love for mankind too. As it is written Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated. God is not exaggerating when He says that He hated Esau. Even within the womb when neither had done anything evil or good God exercised His sovereignty and He chose Jacob. People believe God is obligated to love everybody equally. No He is not. That belief arises from a misunderstanding of John 3:16. The word world in John 3:16 is used in seven clearly distinct contexts. The context of John 3:16 restricts the application to the world of the converted. The world God loves is that world of converted people. God truly loves His own children over and above others. God loves the converted that Jesus died for. In Ephesians 2 God exercised His sovereignty and called people anyway. God by exercising His will clearly shows His decisions are not always carried out in the same manner.