God first loves us.

 God First Loved Us

A Reflection on 1 John 4:19

God first loved us—before we knew His name,

Before we could pronounce a single word of praise or frame

A single thought of gratitude or lift a hand in prayer,

Before we were aware of Him, He was already there.

We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

God first loved us—not because we loved Him back,

Not because our hearts were pure or our intentions on the right track.

He loved us while we were still rebels, still running, still in sin,

While every door we opened led further from Him and further in.

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

God first loved us—He made the first move,

When every step we took was determined to disprove

That anyone could want us, could see us and still stay,

He crossed the distance, made us His, and would not walk away.

It was not our seeking that caught His holy eye.

It was not our worthiness that made the Savior die.

It was love—pure, unforced, uncaused by anything in me,

That set in motion eternity's great decree.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

God first loved us—before the world began,

Before the stars sang out their hymn, before the dawn of man.

Before we drew our first frail breath, before we learned to stray,

His heart had already chosen us, His love had marked the way.

He loved us when we were unlovable, unworthy, and undone.

He loved us when we had nothing to offer, when we had not yet begun

To understand what love could be, what grace could really mean,

He saw us in our brokenness and called us clean.

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3)

So my love is just a response, an echo of His own,

A faint reflection of the love that He has always shown.

Every prayer I pray, every song I sing,

Is but a returning of the love He was first to bring.

When I doubt my standing, when I question if I'm known,

I go back to the beginning, to the truth that stands alone:

Before I ever knew His name, before I drew a breath,

God first loved me—and that love is stronger than death.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

God first loved us—this is our foundation,

The unshakeable ground of our salvation.

Not because we are good, but because He is good.

Not because we understood, but because He understood

That we could never reach Him on our own,

So He reached down and made His love known.

So let me live in this love, respond to this grace,

Let it shape my thoughts, my words, my pace.

For the greatest truth, the simplest creed,

The one thing every heart must heed,

Is this: God first loved me.

Amen.