< Back

1 John 4.10

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ~ 1 John 4.10

This past weekend, Pastor Jeff Manion described love as: a consuming preoccupation with the well-being of others. God is love and this is his heart for us. Admittedly, sometimes this doesn’t feel true. Life is full of challenges and pain and the natural tendency is to think, “God doesn’t love me.” The pain just doesn’t make sense with what we know to be true of God. But today’s passage teaches us that God’s love for us isn’t grounded in the pleasantness of our current circumstances, it’s grounded in the cross of Christ.

At the cross, God demonstrated his incredible love for us by pouring out the full weight of his wrath on Jesus—his anger was justly coming our way. And God knows pain. He sacrificed his only Son to reconcile us to himself. Circumstances were less than ideal for him as well. Yet, true to his character, God expressed his perfect love toward us by pouring his wrath out upon his only son. This is love.

Today, to anchor this truth in our hearts, memorize 1 John 4.10. Write it on a notecard and keep it with you throughout your day. May we be overwhelmed with God’s love and reminded he loves us first.