1 John 4:19
We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19
This verse grounds love in the initiative of divine love: “We love him, because he first loved us.” The order is crucial: human response flows from God’s prior action. It corrects human-centered attempts at loving God apart from grace and highlights a gospel-driven motive for love. In a community with competing loyalties, this truth anchors believers in a welcome, transformative picture of affection that starts with God. The phrase also implies that love is reciprocal—responding to God’s love by loving God and others. The context emphasizes the source of love as God, not human effort, aligning with the broader Johannine emphasis on divine love as the motive and pattern for all Christian living.
This verse emphasizes grace as the initiating force of the Christian life. It ties love to divine action: God’s prior love makes possible our love. It also connects love for God with love for others, underscoring that authentic worship cannot be separated from ethical action and relational generosity.
Practice rhythms that remind you of God’s initiating love—gratitude journals, prayer of thankfulness, and acts of service that reflect his love. When you struggle to love God or others, revisit the cross and the truth that God loved you first. This will reorient priorities, leading to more patient, generous, and self-forgetting love in daily life. In family life, model a love rooted in grace, forgiving quickly and choosing acts of kindness even when not reciprocated.
Cross-References: 1 John 4:10; Romans 5:8-11; John 13:34-35; Ephesians 2:4-7; Titus 3:4-7