This is what I heard:

The Trinity Defines God As A Three Person Relationship.

So where this really began to click with me is when we consider the love. The love between the three persons of the Trinity is what defines God. In fact we even see it in the Bible: “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

And,

They love each other so much that the three persons of the Trinity are One. They are One God.

For me it’s similar to what God says about marriage in scripture: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Matthew 19:5, Genesis 2:24) When a marriage is what God designed a marriage to be, the two love each other so much they become one. And the love the two have for each other is what defines the marriage. It’s what defines the one. (Which is why when we think of ourselves as individuals, our marriage deteriorates.)

And,

You and I are invited to join the relationship of the Trinity by loving God and receiving God’s love for us, and loving others.

And,

The love of the Christ follower defines the Christ follower. The love we have for Jesus, and the love we have for the people around us and the people we encounter is what defines you and what defines me.

We’re created in the image of God, who is defined by three relationships and the love in those relationships. So are you also defined in the same way. You’re defined by your relationships and the love in your relationships.

And,

You’re not defined by the way people treat you. You’re only defined by the way you love people, including and especially by the way you love God.

God is love.

The true Christ follower loves God, and loves those around him or her.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 John 4:7-8

Notes:

This post was inspired by Chuck Bomar’s excellent teaching “We Believe: Athanasian Creed, Part 1,” September 15, 2019

I hope you’ll listen to the original teaching.