by Bra Peter
I was watching a podcast when I heard the phrase, “God is love.” It wasn’t new, but this time it hit different. I sat with it. I heard it again in Setswana: “Modimo o lerato.”
Not “Modimo ke lerato” — no, not that. Because Christianity, as we inherited it, doesn’t teach that God is love. It teaches that God has love. That God loves if you behave. That God punishes if you don’t. It gave us a God who acts like an absent father: watching from a distance, giving commands, withholding warmth.
But what if God is not a person at all?
What if God is not male? Not white? Not even “out there”?
What if God is love — not as metaphor, but as frequency, vibration, presence?
What if love itself is the divine? Then anyone walking with love is walking with God.
We Spend Our Lives Looking for Love (God)
Let’s not lie to ourselves. Most of us are chasing something — affection, approval, a feeling. We chase partners, friendships, likes, followers, sex, attention, approval, and comfort.
But what we’re really looking for… is love.
And most of the time, we look for it outside of ourselves.
In our relationships.
In people who hurt us.
In places that steal our peace.
In systems that use us.
That same craving makes us stay in abuse. That hunger for love makes slaves sympathize with their masters. The heart wants love — even if it’s fake, violent, or manipulative.
We even do this with religion. We obey a version of God that does not reflect us. A white God. A blue-eyed Jesus. We were taught to look upward and outward, but never inward. Yet the Bible they gave us says:
“The kingdom of God is within you.”
Think about that.
African Languages Know Love Without Saying It
In Setswana, we don’t speak about love the way the West does. We don’t say “I love you” ten times a day.
But we act it.
We show it.
We live it.
The wisdom is in the structure of our languages.
“Motho ke motho ka batho.”
You are a person through people.
A person with love will recognise love in another. That’s how we were raised — to judge by deeds, not sweet words. Because love is an action, not a slogan.
Even now, when we ask “Who is a good person?” in African communities, we don’t say, “Someone who is romantic” or “someone who loves Jesus.” We say:
“Ke motho wa batho. O a thusa.”
(He’s a person of the people. He helps.)
That’s love. That’s godliness.
Africa Is the Last Hope of Love
We live in a world that’s disconnected from itself.
In the West, people are lonely with money.
In the East, people are racing toward perfection.
In the South, people are at war with their own reflection.
But Africa — broken as she is — still has Botho.
Still has communal kitchens.
Still has neighbours who greet you by name.
Still has hands in the soil.
Still has rhythm.
But for how long?
Africa is not just the origin of humanity.
She is the last place where living with love still happens on the ground.
If war breaks Africa, the world will bleed.
If greed destroys our land and culture,
God will become unrecognisable.
Because if God is love…
And if Africa still lives love in action…
Then Africa is Love.
Final Reflection
We must return to what is real.
Not church walls. Not trending quotes.
Not fake intimacy. Not foreign images of divinity.
Realness lives in daily love.
In action.
In patience.
In self-respect.
In walking with Ramasedi, not just on Sundays but every day.
The truth is simple:
Love is God.
God is Love.
Africa is Love.
And you — when you choose to act with compassion, courage and presence — are part of that divine force.
Re tswelela. Slowly, clearly. With love.
Ramasedi o a lebelela.