Because He First Loved Me
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Only God's love is unfailing. Even the best, most godly people will let us down. But God never fails and His love never fails.

Only God's love is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and His love is as unchanging as His character.

Only God's love is unconditional. As much as we love our spouse or our children or our parents, our love can never be completely unselfish or with absolutely no strings attached. We are not capable of that kind of love. But God is. There is nothing that you can do to earn God's love. And there is nothing you can do that can cause God to not love you.

In most cases when we use the word 'love', we are describing a feeling or emotion we have towards something. The "love" for material things is in actuality an attachment to them. Material things are blessings from God for us to enjoy. (I Timothy 6:17). God gives us things to enjoy them not to love them. We are called to love God and people (Mark 12:30-31).

The "love" that Jesus expects of us is spiritual and transcends our daily activities, likes and dislikes. I Corinthians 13:4-8 provides a comprehensive view of "LOVE". Love is patient with imperfections; active in doing good; it is non-possessive, non-competitive; it promotes the well-being and success of others; it displays no arrogance; it is selfless; it is courteous; it is not irritable; it is graceful under pressure; it does not keep account of evil; it forgives; it finds no satisfaction in the shortcomings of others and spreading an evil report; it constantly promotes, supports and cherishes the good. All these are constant and experience no fluctuations.
As Jesus was being punished and nailed to the cross, He says to His Father, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Luke 23:34. This is not something that just happened with Jesus. In the books of Acts, we see another example of this kind of love being extended and shown by Stephen. As the martyr Stephen was being stoned to death because of his faith, his dying prayer was, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." (Acts 7:60). You will notice the spirit of forgiveness in both instances. WE need to cultivate the spirit of forgiveness if we say we love our neighbor.

Never give room to doubt if it is possible. The Bible shows us that it is possible. When you think you cannot Love, seek the WORD because the WORLD is looking at you!

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" 1 John 4:7-8

With our finite human minds we cannot fully comprehend the love of God, but we can accept it. You don't have to understand something to know that it is true.

 I may not be able to understand how God can love me, but I know He does, and that makes it so easy to love Him in return. He loves me, and that love is expressed in the grace, mercy and favor He has bestowed upon me all of my life. And it was best expressed when Jesus gave His life to give me the gift of eternal life.

Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me!