Day 5 — God Is Love

“This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

— 1 John 4:9–10 (BSB)

The word love gets used for a lot of things. “I love pizza.” “I love that song.” “I love my dog.” “I love summer.” Sometimes it means I really like this. Sometimes it means this makes me feel good.

But just a few verses earlier, in 1 John 4:8, the Bible says something amazing: “God is love.” Not just that God loves, but that God is love. Love is part of who He is, all the way through. Everything He does comes out of love.

So how do we know what real love looks like? John tells us: look at what God did. “God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.” God’s love isn’t just a warm feeling. It’s a love that gives, and it gave the most precious thing there is.

Then John says something really important: “not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” Think about a newborn baby. A baby can’t do anything for her parents. She can’t cook, clean, say thank you or even say “I love you.” She just cries and needs diapers! But her parents love her completely anyway. Their love came first.

God’s love is like that, only bigger. He didn’t wait for us to love Him first. He didn’t wait for us to be good enough. He loved us first, and He sent Jesus to be “the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” That big phrase means Jesus gave His life to take away our sins and bring us back to God.

That means God’s love for you doesn’t go up on your good days and down on your bad days. It doesn’t depend on your grades, your looks or how many friends you have. It depends on Him, and He never changes.

When you want to know if God loves you, don’t look at how you feel today. Look at the cross.

Think about it: What’s the difference between loving someone because of what they do for you and loving them first, no matter what?

Try this: Show love to someone today who can’t pay you back. Help a younger kid, sit with someone alone or do a chore without being asked.

Dear God, thank You that You are love. Thank You for loving me first, before I ever loved You. Thank You for sending Jesus for me. Help me believe Your love on the days I don’t feel it, and help me love others the way You love me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.