God is great, powerful, eternal, and amazing. He is understood to be Trine, omnipotent, omnipresent, and the source of all things. In some ways, He will be unknowable to humanity in its fallen, mortal existence. Despite the immensity of who He is, He chose to create the universe, angels, heaven, the planet, the plants and animals, and even mankind, which He made in His own image.
In order for people to know Him, God reached out to humanity in many ways. He speaks through the Holy Spirit; God the Son took on flesh and lived as a man; He left His fingerprint all over nature. Finally, He left the Bible as a written account of His plan. It also gives insight into His character. For people who want to understand God, they can use the Word of God and prayer to learn more about Him.
Here then, are 31 verses about God’s character.
Psalm 30:5 - “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”
Psalm 103:8 - “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
Nehemiah 9:17 - “They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.”
Romans 15:5 - “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.”
1 Timothy 1:16 - “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”
2 Peter 3:9 - “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Jeremiah 31:3 - “The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”
John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 5:8 - “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 8:38-39 - “ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
1 John 4:8 - “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:16 - “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
1 John 4:19 - “We love because He first loved us.”
Exodus 14:14 - “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Deuteronomy 32:4 - “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”
Job 34:12 - “Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.”
Isaiah 30:18 - “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”
Isaiah 61:8 - “For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.”
Luke 18:7 - “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?”
Joel 2:13 - “’And rend your hearts and not your garments.’ Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 - “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Micah 7:18 - “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.”
Matthew 9:13 - “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Luke 6:36- “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Hebrews 4:16 - “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Exodus 15:11 - “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”
1 Samuel 2:2 - “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.”
Isaiah 41:10 - “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
2 Peter 3:8 - “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
1 John 1:15 - “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
Revelation 4:8 - “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’”
God’s goodness and amazing character is not just limited to being holy, just, merciful, loving, and patient. The Bible is full of descriptions of the multi-faceted, infinite nature of the Creator. Exploring His Word reveals His character, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, allows us to become increasing like the one who loves us so much that He took on flesh and died so that we can spend eternity with Him.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Timothy Eberly
Bethany Verrett is a freelance writer who uses her passion for God, reading, and writing to glorify God. She and her husband have lived all over the country serving their Lord and Savior in ministry. She has a blog on graceandgrowing.com.