John, who spent some considerable time with Jesus said this in 1 John 4:8.
"Whoever does not love does not know God, because GOD IS LOVE."
It doesn't say "because God loves."
The difference is this:
"God IS love" reveals His nature. His nature is love and out of His nature, He loves.
"God loves" reveals His behavior.
If you think of God loving out of a behavioral choice only, you miss the fact that His very nature is love.
Adam and Eve originally only knew Him as love. However, once they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil their initial thought was to hide in fear of the judgment that would come from them being naked!
Do you see that? They started seeing through a tainted pair of glasses that held the perspective of Him being a God of Judgment rather than a God who is love!
All along it's been humans seeking laws, not God. He knows that with every law there must be a judgment. So while we keep adding laws, we're just reinforcing the perception that God is Judgment and not the truth of God is Love.
There may be more to the verses that talk about how to level we judge others, we will be judged…or that we will judge the angels…You ever stop to think about our role in the judging process? Well… we'll get there later 🙂
Is the God you know Love or Judgment?
One of the ways to help you measure that is how you respond to this:
Anyone who doesn't see that God's very nature is love and focuses on only His behavior of love will try to earn it. If you think His love is dependent on your performance, obedience or anything else, you don't understand the core of Him.
————————————————————————————————————
5 days until liftoff towards India…more to come on the trip soon! 
