1 John 4:19 (KJV)
We love him, because He first loved us.
I marvel over this verse each and every time I read it! Love is something
that I've always struggled with - and still do from time to time. As human
beings, we are not good at real love. We don't love right. We love wrong.
We love conditionally. We put pressure on others to perform before we'll
love them. And if people don't perform as we would like, we withhold and
even withdraw our love from them. But praise God the Bible says He loved
us FIRST! That means minus any performance on our parts - isn't that wonderful?!
I don't know about you, but knowing that truth motivates me again and
again, it liberates me to love others the same way my God loved me! I
can go FIRST when it comes to loving people, without any fear at all....
Does God's love motivate you to love others, or are you afraid to? If
so, what are you afraid of? Are you scared you might be rejected or worried
your love might not being returned? Are you afraid of being taken advantage
of? Are you fearful of becoming vulnerable and open to hurt? Many people
today are afraid to love for these reasons. I'll admit to you that the
reasons I gave above were personal reasons for my own reluctance. Yet
the Word of God has helped me to see that because the Lord FIRST loved
me, I can then safely and securely love others! There need be no fear
attached to initiating love.
1 John 4:17 (KJV)
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness…
1 John 4:18 (KJV)
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear....
Ladies, the ability to love properly comes only from God. You won't find
the answer in a psychiatrist’s office, Dr. Laura doesn't have it, and
it’s not on the radio or on television! The world can't tell you and I
how to love right or help us in any way - only God can! Why do I say that?
Because the Bible says that the Lord went FIRST, God loved us FIRST! Think
about that and let it sink in… If the Lord went FIRST, that must mean
He is the author of love, amen? Therefore, why not go to the One who wrote
the guidebook on how to love properly and get the answers we need! When
we learn from the Lord about love, you and I can then begin to love right...
“With love in our hearts we’ll always have something to give.”
You see, God's love is a perfect love. God's love is a bold love. God's
love is an enabling love. It's an active love... It's a love that reached
out and loved sinners - quite imperfect people (a category which each
of us falls into, amen?). Yes, God loves those that are unloveable...
Do you?? Could it be you are struggling with this issue today? Do you
go FIRST when it comes to loving others, or do you wait around for them
to earn your love? Do you wait for confirmation that others love you before
you'll reciprocate love? Maybe you wait until you "feel" the conditions
are safe enough for you to love others...
Ladies, because He first loved us, God's love has made it possible for
us to get close to Him. Are you afraid to get close to people? Do you
withdraw when others attempt to get close to you, when they try to love
you? If so, your love hasn't been made perfect yet! Our love is only perfected
in God's love, for His perfect love casts out all those fears and feelings
that have tormented us. God's love drives away that which holds us back
from loving and being loved. In Him, you CAN go FIRST...
Phillipians 4:13 (KJV)
I CAN do ALL things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Rev. 1:17 (KJV)
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right
hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the FIRST and the last:
Rev. 22:13 (KJV)
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the FIRST and the last.
As I really pondered this truth, I came up with this concept:
"God performed when I couldn't, so that I can when I wouldn’t."
Does that make sense to you? You see, when you and I were not capable
of performing in a manner that was necessary for eternal life, God performed
in our stead. How did He perform? He went FIRST; He loved us while we
were yet sinners and paved the way for a personal relationship with Him.
Yes, God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross
as payment for our sins, removing the obstacles to a close relationship
with the Father....
1 John 4:9&10 (KJV)
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent
his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent
his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The cross is the greatest performance of God's love, amen ladies? I hope
today you are motivated by this great love that God had - and still has
- for all mankind. If you are a Christian, I hope that you will take what
you have personally received at Calvary and then go out and love others
FIRST. It IS possible for us to do so! After all, that's how God showed
His love, amen? There are those that still don't know how much God loves
them, even while they are yet sinners.... Will your life prove it? Are
you freely demonstrating God's love today toward others? Toward your husband?
Toward your children? Toward your in-laws? Toward your neighbor? Toward
your church family? Are you actively loving these precious people FIRST,
or are you waiting for a performance out of them? You are wrong for holding
back your love for any reason at all when you have God's perfect love
made available to you through Christ! Ladies, it is only when we love
FIRST that God is clearly seen in us....
1 John 4:12 (KJV)
No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Truly, this is how our love is perfected, by actively going FIRST – with
boldness, without any reservation or hindrances at all. God's love inspires
a confidence in us that nothing else ever could! This confidence is what
makes it possible to love SINNERS, that group of unlovable, imperfect
people to which we ourselves belong! Those people that you find difficult
to get along with, those folk that have disappointed you, those individuals
that you find disturbing, those that seem disinterested, and those that
you find are distant - they all need to be loved! Do you dare do it today??
Will you join me in going FIRST? Who is someone that you have had a difficult
time getting along with that you need to ask God to help you love this
week? What obstacle will you ask the Lord to help you overcome in order
to go first? Let God's perfect love drive out all your apprehension…
1 John 4:11 (KJV)
Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
1 John 4:21 (KJV)
And this commandment have we FROM HIM, That he who loveth God love his
brother also.
Ladies, if God loved us FIRST, He is expecting us to love others that
very same way. In fact, He is commanding His children to do so! God's
love is a motivating love, why shouldn't yours be also?? Why not encourage
others how to love FIRST through your godly example? Just what kind of
a lover are you known to be anyway?? Selfish, lazy, reluctant... Dare
you ask those who know you?? There are to be no more excuses for resisting
love. The Lord's love sent into our lives through Christ has made ALL
things possible - now go and perfect your love! And remember to go FIRST....
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2004
