A Daily Devotion for Thursday, June 2
- ontrakk
- Jun 2, 2022
- 1 min read
1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.
God created us to love. He created us as beings who love one another, and have the capacity to love simply for love’s sake, and not for gain. In the verses that follow 4:19, John reminds us to love our earthly brothers and sisters. If we can’t love each other, when we see and interact with each other, how can we love a God who we cannot see, John asks. I love this verse, because it reminds me of this very special gift. “We love because he first loved us.”
Holy Father, thank you for your love, and for creating me as a being who is able to love. You have created for me a family, both by blood and by faith, and I love them dearly. Help me to love more selflessly. Amen
Becky, transforming
Thursday, June 2nd, 2022
1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.
This scripture has just six words, but so thought provoking . Jesus tells us to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. These are two distinct commands that are completely linked together. This isn’t about just loving ourselves but about learning to love God with everything we are and everything we have. By loving ourselves it would just make sense to love everyone around us. In the present world we are living in can you imagine …
1 John 4:19
One who never knows the love of another cannot develop normally. They are psychologically scarred and can be very dangerous people. Those who know the love of God must be the vehicle by which love is extended to others. This sometimes ends badly by earthly standards. I read recently of a 26 year old man who felt called to reach a remote people group off the coast of India for Christ as a teen and had spent seven years of his life learning all he could about them. They killed him on the beach the morning he arrived on the island in 2018. Very few are capable of love like this, but John Chau’s sacrifice resonates throughout…
1John 4:19 So you see, our love for him comes as a result of his loving us first. Chapter 4 of 1 John is almost entirely about love. From verse seven to the end, John tells us to practice loving each other. He tells us God is love. A love that sacrificed his son for us. He then tells us that we cannot hate anyone and then say we love God. This is a difficult lesson for us. We must put all hate away to truly live as God wants us to live. Prayer: gracious God, to love you fully, I must practice love daily. Amen