How much do you really know God? Can you name 10 attributes of God?
God knows you personally and wants you to know him deeply as well; he wants to show you that a relationship with him fills all the longings in your heart. Wanting to be known, to be seen, to be valued, to belong: walking with God satisfies all these and more.
Knowing the characteristics of God in the Bible allows you to do this, because it shows you how much he loves you and is working everything out for your good.
He delights in that. It brings him great joy when you come before him and pour out your heart, because it shows him that you love him. To Love God more, you need to know his attributes displayed in the Bible.
What Are the Attributes of God?
To learn more about God you must read the Bible. Praying will allow you to get to know him more, too, and help you connect with him one-on-one as you see him move in your heart.
The Bible allows you to formulate a list of the attributes of God as you learn about him through studying it. The more you know his attributes, the more you will love God, depend on him, and put him first in your life.
Attributes of God and Their Meaning
The attributes of God are clear when you intentionally look for them while you are reading the Bible. He is consistent in revealing himself to those who want to know him and seek him.
Who God is can be seen in the Bible through his working in others’ lives, through parables, and through Jesus’s life. Understanding this allows you in turn to love God more.
He wants you to depend on him for all things and put him in his rightful position as first in your life. When you know his attributes and their meanings you will happily do this because you will see that he has the best for you and you can’t live without him.
Below you will find a list of 10 attributes of God and their meanings.
1. All-loving God
God is all loving. He showed you this by sending his son Jesus to make the ultimate sacrifice for you: by dying on the cross. Jesus took your place because he loves you.
This demonstrates that God would do anything for you and wants a relationship with you. His love was the main reason for this.
He is love.
He wants you to be reunited with him in a relationship and to be his child as he intended.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 John 3:1, NIV)
This shows that he is all loving, that he would do what no one else would do or could do for you to show you he loves you. His love for you has no limits… and yours shouldn’t either when getting to know him.
2. All-powerful God
God is all powerful. That means he can do all things. You can especially see this in Jesus’ ministry as he healed the sick, turned water into wine, multiplied the fish, brought Lazarus back from the dead, and rose again himself. No one can perform miracles like these but him. And his power isn’t limited to just these things.
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:3, NIV)
He can also change hearts and minds. His abilities are endless. When you know this attribute of his, you can feel confident that when you ask for something in prayer that seems impossible—and it’s his will—it will happen.
When God is calling you to do something, you can feel secure that he will help you do it. Additionally, it helps you to feel safe knowing that the enemy has no power over you.
Bask in God’s presence; know that he loves you so much and will use his power to help you.
3. All-knowing God
God is all knowing. He has a deep understanding of all things because he created all things. He has no beginning and no end.
“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” (Psalm 147:5, NIV)
When you realize this, you can love him more because—despite your lack of understanding in all things—you can trust that he knows it all.
He knows what is going to happen in the future and what has happened in the past. God knows how to warn you when things are to come and what to do when hard times are present.
When you focus on this characteristic of God in the Bible, you can feel ok when hardships come or when battles arrive from the enemy because he will show you the way out. This brings peace because he always has the best for you.
4. All-forgiving God
God is grieved by sin. He hates it so much, yet you can see that he forgives continually, multiple times, without a limit. That is who he is, all forgiving.
“The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;” (Daniel 9:9, NIV)
An example of this is his forgiveness of the Israelities, who sinned against God repeatedly. You can also see this in your own life; when you go to God in prayer and repent of your wrongdoings against him, you are forgiven because of what Jesus did for you on the cross.
He forgives you for anything. There is nothing that you can do or say that is not forgivable by him. This is how much he loves you and you can reciprocate that love to him when you know this.
5. Merciful God
God is merciful. You can see this characteristic of his in many ways throughout the Bible.
He promised never to send another flood like in Noah’s time.
He spared the lives of the people in the city of Nineveh, despite their sin, by sending Jonah to preach to them about God. Even Jonah experienced his mercy when he was in the whale, though he was disobedient.
He died for you when you were still a sinner. He forgave it all and you did nothing to deserve this. His mercy for mankind is endless because he loves you so much.
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5, NIV)
When you know how merciful he is, it changes your heart to be in great awe of his love. He doesn’t hold your mistakes against you when you’ve accepted his son Jesus—because he doesn’t see that. His merciful nature sees you as blameless, as Jesus is.
Reflect on this characteristic of God in the Bible to love him more deeply, and devote your life to him more.
6. Compassionate God
God is compassionate. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” (Psalm 103:8, NIV)
You can see this attribute of God in the Bible by how he responds to his people when they are in distress. Jesus wept with others in the story of Lazarus and then brought him back from the dead.
He cares when you are hurting and sorrowful and moves to comfort you. He helps you. He provides great comfort like no other.
God cares about the poor, underprivileged people who feel overlooked and who are in any kind of pain. He brings people to help them. He is a great God who wants to—and will—rectify this and will make everything just in his coming.
He desires all to know him and none to not, so they can be with him in eternity forever. You can know that when you fixate on this characteristic of God in the Bible you will know his heart for you and love him unwaveringly.
7. Unchanging God
God doesn’t change. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8, NIV)
He is consistent and reliable. His promises are forever. When he says something in his word, you can trust it.
He will not let you down; that is who he is. God doesn’t lie. He only speaks the truth and his words in the Bible are all accurate.
You can trust God’s love for you because of this. You can rely on him each and every day to be available, to meet you in your hurt and pain, to help you, to meet your everyday needs, and to be the loving Father you require. This truth about him brings our hearts to love God relentlessly.
8. Omnipresent God
God is everywhere. He sees it all and knows it all.
When you are in need, he is there. When hard times come, he is there working. He never abandons you—no matter what happens or what you do.
Isaiah speaks of this characteristic of God: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:2, NIV)
Even when you turn your back on him, he is still pursuing you, still waiting for you and desiring for you to come back to him… because he loves you.
9. Faithful God
God is faithful. He will never fail you when he asks you to do something. He will not leave you but will come through for you, always.
He is loyal to you. He remains with you, forever.
His faithfulness is seen in the day-to-day of being with you and always being available. You can read this in Psalm 119:89-90 (NIV): “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.”
When he asks you to step out and do something hard, he is steadfast to help you and counsel you to keep going. When you doubt if you can persevere in this Christain life and keep going on, know that he is faithful to allow you to keep walking in victory and that he will never leave your side.
This is him loving you; he is worthy of your undivided love.
10. Perfect God
God is perfect. He never makes mistakes. He doesn’t do anything by accident. He has great plans for you that you can trust.
You can see this through Jesus, who is God. He did not sin. Even when tempted by the enemy, he never sinned or went against God the Father. Nothing could cause him to sin because that is who he is.
“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.” (1 John 3:5, NIV)
Despite this, he took upon the sins of the world—bearing separation from the Father when he died on the cross. This attribute is sure to allow you to love him greatly and not waver.
In order to love God, you must know him and strive to continue to know him each and every day. Knowing these 10 attributes of God will help you do that.
