We can love because God loved us first.
“We love him, because he first loved us.”1 John 4:19 (KJV)
What does “Love” mean in 1 John 4:19?
The Greek is agape, a love that chooses to give itself and does not depend on being earned or deserved.
Going deeper
John does not say we love because we decided to. He says we love because He loved first. Our love is a response and a reflection of God's love, never its source. That is why John writes that God is love, and why he insists that anyone who claims to love God while hating a brother is not being honest. Receiving God's love comes first, and it changes how we treat the people who are hardest to love.
Reflect
Who is hard for you to love, and what would it look like to give them a little of what God has given you?
Pray
Father, thank You for loving me first. Let that love flow through me to others today. In Jesus' name, amen.
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