"We love because he first loved us." (v. 19)

For Reading and Meditation:     1 John 4:17-21;5:1-12

Although the love of God is clearly laid out in the Old Testament, why did humankind have to wait so long to have the message spelled out in such clear terms as John uses: God is love? People could not see this sufficiently clearly until they had looked into the face of Jesus. In the life of Jesus is the clearest revelation that God is love. So few of us open ourselves to the love of God. We have more fear of Him than we have love for Him. There is, of course, a godly fear (or reverence), but that is not what I mean. If we fail to comprehend how much we are loved by God, then there will be no energy to turn the machinery of our lives in the way they were meant to turn. When I was a young Christian, whenever I doubted the love of God I was told I should go to Calvary. I never quite understood what that meant until one day I complained to God that He couldn't really love me; if He did, He wouldn't let such things happen as were befalling me. He gave me no answer but showed me the Cross. And as I saw His Son dying there for me, the scales fell from my eyes and I found love for Him flowing out of His love for me. I discovered what the verse at the top of this page meant: "We love because he first loved us." Love for God is not the fruit of labor but the response of our hearts to being loved. It is not something we manufacture; it is something we receive.

O God my Father, save me from believing that my problem is I don't love You enough, when the real problem is I don't know how much I am loved by You. Let the scales fall from my eyes right now and let me see - really see. In Jesus' Name. Amen.