Jesus first loved me . . .

When my sister died, everyone at her funeral spoke of how she loved Jesus. Had she been there, she would have talked about how much Jesus loved her.

On a human level, knowing someone loves me changes how I think about life and about myself. At the very least, I want to show that person appreciation. At best, I will love in return.

Today’s devotional starts with this verse:

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, (1 Peter 1:8)

Then it says that fellowship with Christ is built on love, trust, and obedience. It goes on to say that the love in that verse is a choice, a matter of the will and we prove our love for Him by doing what He says. This is affirmed by two verses from John 14: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments . . . . He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (vv. 15, 24) and repeats the idea that to have fellowship with Christ is to love and obey Him.

I’m not settled with that order of cause and effect because John also wrote:

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:10–12)

God started this relationship by loving me, sending Jesus to die for me, showing me that I need Him, making His love known to me. He wooed me until I finally realized the extent of His love and the depth of my unworthiness. Only then did fellowship and obedience begin to happen. I didn’t make that fellowship a reality by obeying Him; He makes it a reality by loving me and doing the things that love does. If our relationship and fellowship required my trust and obedience, then when I doubted Him or sinned in some way, I could not count on Him to be there for me when confession and repentance were needed.

This relationship cannot depend too much on me. I am not my Savior, Jesus is. I’m told to ask God to teach me how to love and trust Him more faithfully and thank Him for the joy that comes as I do. I can be open to His teaching, to increased faith, and to His amazing joy, but I cannot make those things happen. Love is a response to His love. So also is obedience.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5–6)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

PRAY: Lord, to get this right, I cannot take credit for increased fellowship with You. It is an amazing grace to know You, to realize You love me, to have a heart to obey, to walk and talk with You. If there is any good in me, it comes from You, not from my choice to being tuned in to Your will. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) Don’t ever let me take credit for anything You have done, or feed my pride and become self-righteous — because all that I have is Your doing.

PONDER: Read Romans 1-11, looking for how salvation works.