“We love because He first loved us.” — 1 John 4:19
We are conditioned to think love is something we earn or maintain — a reward for good behavior, a response to our worthiness. But Advent announces a different story: God moved toward us first.
Before we could respond.
Before we could clean up.
Before we even knew what we needed.
His love does not react to our performance; it initiates our transformation. The manger is God’s declaration: “I refuse to love you from far away.”
This is the heartbeat of the Gospel: God’s love is not a transaction; it is a gift. It does not wait for us to climb up to Him; it comes down to us.
“Man is lost but not abandoned. Had men not been lost, no Savior would have been required.” — A. W. Tozer
This is the kind of love that moves first — personal, relentless, and unearned.
Advent reminds us that divine love is not passive. It pursues. It draws near. It takes on flesh and bone to rescue us from the distance we could never close on our own.
Reflection Question: Where do you need to remember that God moved toward you first — and let that truth quiet your striving today?
Practice: Take a moment to whisper this truth: “God loved me first.” Let it settle into the places where you’ve been trying to earn what is already yours.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for loving me first. Teach me to rest in Your initiating love — not striving to earn it, but receiving it as the gift it is. Let Your love reshape my heart and overflow through my life today. Amen.
When God Came Near 