Because He First Loved Us

It’s hard to imagine love without conditions in such a broken world.

Throughout life, I’m sure we’ve all experienced the sting of love with limits. The friend who no longer finds you useful because you won’t do that one thing for them; The parent who withheld love because you didn’t behave the way they expected or didn’t meet a standard they had for you; The partner whose love faded because the “magic was gone.”

You might have been the one to withhold love from someone who didn’t live up to your expectations.

This can be disappointing and cause us to build walls around our hearts and only share love with those we deem worthy. This might even mean holding back from receiving God’s love.

As believers, we learn that God’s love doesn’t depend on whether or not we measure up. It doesn’t wait for us to be better people. Paul tells us in Romans 5:8 that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God’s love is available to us because that is who he is.

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. “ 1 John 4:16-17

In receiving that love, we learn to love God and others. In 1 John 4:19, John tells us that we love because He first loved us.

If we’ve held our hearts back from God’s love because people have failed us, what are some practical things we can do to accept God’s love so that we can love him and others as he has commanded?

Scot McKnight, in his book The Jesus Creed, says, “knowing God’s love begins when we open our hearts to Abba’s love.” He lays out three practical ways to do this.

This begins with being still in his presence, clearing our minds of the clutter, focusing on God, and consciously opening our hearts to God. We trust him; we abide in his presence; we surrender to his love.

Repeat a short reminder prayer throughout the day - “Father, thank you for loving me.”

Practice a faith action of God’s Love once a day, such as telling ourselves, “God loves me. Especially me. He knows me, especially me. I am loved by God.” This can be useful when harmful comments or disappointments come our way.

When we accept that God loves us, we can rest secure in him and begin to share that love with those around us, knowing that we are never far from or rejected by our one true love.

Prayer: Father, thank you for loving us. Please help us to remove any walls we may have up that prevent us from receiving that love. May we rest in the knowledge that your love is safe and complete. In doing so, let us be free to share that love with those around us without fear. In Jesus’ name, amen.