The Source of Love

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10 (NASB)

Talking about God's love is tantamount to talking about sacrificial love. Most often, we define love in terms of strong emotion or attachment to a particular person. This is where we all fail. If love were the fruit of strong emotion or attachment, God would have no reason to love us so much, to the point of sending His Son to die for our sins.

You may wonder why God wouldn't have loved us? And, depending on how you feel inside, why is it that love isn't emotional? Notice that no matter how much we love a person, as soon as their attitude or words touch our personality, we immediately change and begin to see them in a different light. Yet, in His love, instead of changing with us or rejecting us because of our sins, God chose to sacrifice His Son to bring us closer to Him.

That said, your love for God has nothing to do with your decision to love Him. It is because He loved you first that you love Him in return. It is a divine rule. It is the same sacrificial love that John asks us to have for one another. This love that forgives everything, even the deepest wounds. God loved you and, through this love, He atoned for our sins in Jesus Christ. Because He is the source of love, ask Him to help you love Him in return and to love others as He loves them. He will gladly grant it to you.

May God's grace and peace be with you all.