When we talk about living abundantly, we often associate it with getting closer to God or impacting the world for Him. But that won't matter much to us if we don't know who God is or what He's like. After all, why would we want to do anything for Someone we know nothing about?

Many of us don't know who God truly is. We've either been introduced to the churchy, sanitized version of Him, or have cooked up images of an old man in a ridiculous robe ready to pounce on us with lightening bolts, or any number of other conceptions.

In an attempt to show others who God is, Christians pull out all sorts of characteristics or attributes of God – omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, forgiving, patient, caring, kind and more. While all of these things are true of God, I want to dig into four characteristics of God that I believe are key to understanding and knowing Him.

This might be one of the most important traits of God. God's actions begin and end in love. He does nothing without love for us. We may think that because God loves us so much, He'd do whatever we want Him to do or give us anything we demand. That's not how God operates though. God is not a genie, even though He sometimes says yes to our prayers. God demonstrates His love by:

By sending His Son Jesus to die in our place, God provided a way for us to to be saved from our sins. When we accept Jesus' gift of salvation and make Him our Lord, we are accepting one of God's most potent gifts of love.

In a way we're all like cocky teenagers behind the wheel of the car and God's the parent instructing us. We think we know what we're doing and don't need any help with life. But we need God to tell us how to live, act, and speak. Through His Word and the Holy Spirit He guides and instructs us so we can live the life He has set out for us.

In John 15:15 Jesus said we're no longer His servants, we're His friends. God has chosen us to be His friend. He wants to have a relationship with us, even when we don't want to have one with Him. He is constantly pursuing us and desires to be close to us.

Psalm 62:8 (NASB) says, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is a refuge for us.” He doesn't just want to hear our requests or the put together parts of our lives. He wants the dirty, screwed up parts of our hearts and lives as well. And we can confide in Him without worrying about Him turning away from us. He wants us to bring our worries and troubles to Him.

He protects us in many ways. Most significantly, He protects us from the devil and his ways. While God allows trials and temptations into our lives at times to test and grow us, He does protect us from the devil's attacks and his other efforts to destroy us. God also protects us from any number of dangers: illnesses, car accidents, storms, etc.

These two traits go hand in hand. Holy means blameless, without sin, and pure. Just means righteousness. God never sins and always does what is right. We don't have to worry about Him making mistakes or doing anything evil.

This means Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Since He was fully God and fully human, He was perfect and able to pay for our sins. If He had sinned, He would've only paid for His own sins when He died.

Also, we cannot be with God unless we're cleansed from our sins. Every single one of us has sinned and we cannot wash away our sins, no matter how hard we try. If that was the end of the story, that would be depressing. But we can be made sinless and righteous through Jesus.

Mercy has two definitions. One is God forgiving our sins and not punishing us. The other is ton feel pity or compassion and to act on it.

God is full of mercy in both senses of the word. He wants and is willing to forgive our sins. That's the whole reason Jesus came to earth. He wants us to be with Him forever.
Even after we're saved, God continues to show us mercy. The definition of compassion is “to feel sympathy with someone.” Think about it. The God of the universe sympathizes with us and acts on that sympathy.

How does God show His compassion to us? He may do it in big ways (healing a loved one, giving us a promotion, etc.) or in small ways (an excellent cup of coffee, a text or call from a friend, or a bird outside the window, etc.). Whatever it is, it ultimately comes from Him. Lamentations 3:22-23 (NASB) says, “The Lord's acts of mercy indeed do not end, for His compassions do not fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” God shows us compassion every day and it never ends.

These characteristics of God are important and help us get a grasp on who God is. Which of God's attributes mean the most to you? Tell me in the comments below.