“The typical example of Gift-love would be that love which moves a man to work and plan and save for the future well-being of his family which he may die without sharing or seeing; the second, Need-love, is that which sends a lonely and frightened child to its mother’s arms. And of course Divine love is gift-love. The Father gives all He is and has to the Son; the Son gives Himself back to the Father and Gives himself to the world, and thus gives the world (in Himself) back to the Father again.
And what could be anything less like God’s love than Need-love? God lacks nothing; but our need-love is the accurate reflection of our poverty. As soon as we are fully conscious we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually. We need them if we are to know anything. Even ourselves.”
--C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves