हरि ब्यापक सर्बत्र समाना। प्रेम तें प्रगट होहिं मैं जाना॥
God is surely omnipresent but love of a devotee makes Him apparent.
– Baal Kaand, Shri RamCharitManas
The expression of love gets naturally reflected in our behavior. As we feel attached to our kith and kin in the world, devotees attach their behavioral strings with God. They feel personally bonded with Almighty through various moods of affection.
A devotee who stays calm in every type of situation, believing it to be all his loving Lord’s will, is categorized as being in the passive mode- (shant-bhav). He takes God as a universal guardian, on whose commandment everything happens in the world. On that basis, saints, yogis maintain their equipoise forever.
Next, there are people who feel a fervent urge to serve God like a servant (daas-bhav). They consider Him to be their master and fondly remain occupied in the works which may please Him.
Thirdly, some devotees deal with God as a friend (sakha-bhav). This emotion brings the imperceptible Lord at the level of equality with us. Our friendly attitude towards God frees us from the big Godly formalities and brings Him very close to our heart. Also, the world then looks like a playground on which He is playing the game of illusion (maya) with us. It is all for fun sake to be rich or poor, to succeed or fail. The moment we forget this fact, we fall into the illusive trap and get away from Him. However, He, as a true friend, comes to our rescue and tries to remind us of the reality through His other playful tricks.
Further, there is a way to idolize God not as our creator rather ardently adore Him as our child (vatslaya-bhaav). This sentiment detaches all ideas of power from the concept of GOD and gives us full freedom with Him like a parent. It is represented in the form we pamper Baby Krishna on Janamashtmi and Baby Jesus on Christmas.
Yet, the ultimate form of love is said to be of conjugal love and this too can be felt for Amighty (madhurya-bhaav). Here, it is not about being male or female as God is beyond this differentiation. It is about being in passionate love with Him like Meera Bai and Sufis.
Nevertheless, these set of feelings are not mutually exclusive rather perfection of one leads to the fusion of all the others in it. Think of a dedicated wife who loves her husband as a lover and takes care of him as a child too while serving him food or maintaining his clothes. She serves him by doing various household chores like cooking, washing, cleaning etc. She speaks her heart to him in the capacity of a friend and remains happily contented howsoever her husband may keep her. In the similar manner, we can feel bonded to our idol in all the above ways if the intensity of just one bond reaches its pinnacle.
Ref- Bhakti Yoga, by Swami Vivekananda
Being Alive 