Insights (He First Loved Us)

Verse of the day Tuesday, 12 September 2023. We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19 Insights Our natural heart lacks the ability to love God or other people. Only those who have experienced the love of God can love God truly with all their heart. This love for God is summarized under the following terms: 1. If you love God, you will do all that He says. “If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15 2. If you love God you will love the things He loves and the things He hates. 3. If you love God, you will love your fellow believers. If someone says, “I love God, ” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. 1 John 4:20‭-‬21 4. If you love God, you will love the people He made, including those who are your enemies. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Matthew 5:44 Before we came to Christ through the unmerited love of God, we were incapable of fulfilling any of these terms. All we love is ourselves and all that brings satisfaction to ourselves. God had to show us what true love is because we don't know it. In John 3:16, God showed all human race the depth of His love by giving His only Son as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity against Him. You should understand that God's greatest proof of love to us was His sacrifice. It was not a mere lip service but an act of love beyond the human mind. In Romans 5:8, we understood our positions as sinful and rebellious people deserving of eternal condemnation and punishment, but God demonstrated His love towards us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. What this meant was that while we were actively in our state of sinfulness and were His enemies, God graciously demonstrated His love by sending Christ to save us. That was the depth of love God revealed to us. Although, a man may venture to die for someone he claims to love, not His enemy. But God being a loving God, died for us His enemies. Your Response To God's Love 1. You are responsible for loving God by obeying His commandments. Simply put, doing what He tells you to do. 2. You are to love God by loving your fellow believers and give no room for any form of hatred. 3. You are to love God by loving your enemies and those whom you consider unlovable. It is the love of God that will gear your heart to reach out and pray for the lost and unsaved people around and beyond you. Do you love Him? Do you thank Him for His unmerited love towards you? Action Reflect on these questions and ask God for more grace to love Him as He has loved you.