He loved us first

“We love him, because he first loved us.”

1 John 4:19

Today I want to remind you of an order that changes everything: I loved you first. Before you learned to pray, before you decided to seek me, before you even knew my name properly, I had already decided to love you. Your love for me, as beautiful as it is, is a response — mine is the origin.

This matters because so many people live trying to love God in order to earn love in return, as if it were a trade. It isn't a trade. It's an echo. You love me because you first felt, even faintly, the weight of the love I already had for you all along.

So relax a little today. You don't need to produce enough love to impress me. You only need to respond to what has already been given. Let my first love be the engine, not your attempt to reach a distant God.