Loved First
12/05/2025
“We love because he first loved us.”
— 1 John 4:19 (NIV)
Some verses feel like they hold the entire gospel in a single line, this is one of them. John doesn’t say, “We love because we figured it out,” or “because we’re good people,” or “because we finally learned enough.” He anchors our ability to love in this one profound truth: God loved us first.
That means before you prayed your first prayer…
Before you understood grace…
Before you ever reached for Him…
He had already reached for you.
Think of a parent who keeps a box of treasures, baby books, first drawings, tiny shoes worn only a handful of times. None of those things are kept because they’re valuable in dollars. They’re kept because they’re precious. They represent love long before the child ever knew they were loved.
In the same way, God held love for you before you even knew His name. Long before you could respond, He chose you, cherished you, and called you His own. And that love becomes the source from which we learn to love others.
We love our families, our coworkers, our neighbors, even difficult people, not because we have enough strength, but because God has poured His love into us first. His love becomes the well we draw from when ours runs dry. It’s the reason forgiveness becomes possible… grace becomes natural… and compassion rises up even when we feel empty.
Real love doesn’t start with us.
Real love flows through us.
But it always begins with Him.
Action Steps
1. Pause today to thank God for loving you long before you knew how to love Him back.
2. Extend love to someone who hasn’t earned it. That’s exactly how God loved you.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to expose any lies that make you question God’s love—then replace them with Scripture truth.
Challenge for the Day
Give away one act of love today that costs you something, time, patience, or intentional kindness and do it solely because He loved you first.
Prayer
Father, thank You for loving me before I ever knew You. Help me live today out of the overflow of Your love. Let Your love shape my words, my attitude, and my actions. When I feel empty, remind me that Your love came first—and it is more than enough. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Pastor Jeff
#LoveGod #LovePeople #FindFreedom #FindYourDesign
“We love because he first loved us.”
— 1 John 4:19 (NIV)
Some verses feel like they hold the entire gospel in a single line, this is one of them. John doesn’t say, “We love because we figured it out,” or “because we’re good people,” or “because we finally learned enough.” He anchors our ability to love in this one profound truth: God loved us first.
That means before you prayed your first prayer…
Before you understood grace…
Before you ever reached for Him…
He had already reached for you.
Think of a parent who keeps a box of treasures, baby books, first drawings, tiny shoes worn only a handful of times. None of those things are kept because they’re valuable in dollars. They’re kept because they’re precious. They represent love long before the child ever knew they were loved.
In the same way, God held love for you before you even knew His name. Long before you could respond, He chose you, cherished you, and called you His own. And that love becomes the source from which we learn to love others.
We love our families, our coworkers, our neighbors, even difficult people, not because we have enough strength, but because God has poured His love into us first. His love becomes the well we draw from when ours runs dry. It’s the reason forgiveness becomes possible… grace becomes natural… and compassion rises up even when we feel empty.
Real love doesn’t start with us.
Real love flows through us.
But it always begins with Him.
Action Steps
1. Pause today to thank God for loving you long before you knew how to love Him back.
2. Extend love to someone who hasn’t earned it. That’s exactly how God loved you.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to expose any lies that make you question God’s love—then replace them with Scripture truth.
Challenge for the Day
Give away one act of love today that costs you something, time, patience, or intentional kindness and do it solely because He loved you first.
Prayer
Father, thank You for loving me before I ever knew You. Help me live today out of the overflow of Your love. Let Your love shape my words, my attitude, and my actions. When I feel empty, remind me that Your love came first—and it is more than enough. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Pastor Jeff
#LoveGod #LovePeople #FindFreedom #FindYourDesign
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