We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19 NIV
He First Loved Us
In her LinkedIn profile, a young Brazilian woman named Liticia writes of falling in love with Canada on her first trip here. She says “Finally, a dream comes true. It’s been 5 years since I first landed here, in Toronto. It was just a flight connection extended to a 10-day vacation so I could get to know a new place. I did not expect much. It was March, the end of winter and the snow was dirty and melting while the wind was cold and sharp. But it did not matter … You might say it was love at first sight.”
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Do you remember what you felt like when you realized that you loved someone for the first time? There was a sense of excitement, potential, hope. That person was on your mind and in your heart and you couldn’t stop thinking about them. You would do anything for them and in fact, you looked for ways to do so. If this is the case for human love, imagine how God feels about you. The apostle says this in 1 John 4:19: “We love because he first loved us.” God has loved us from the very beginning – the beginning of time and the beginning of us in our mother’s womb. He can’t stop thinking about you. You are on His mind. He would do anything for you and has looked for ways to do so. His love for you reached its apex on the cross of Calvary when Jesus lay down His life for you. Do you love Him like that? And in the context of this verse, do you love others like that? We are called to.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley