Which of the following best expresses the meaning of “We love, because He first loved
us”?
- We should love others because Jesus gave us the example of how to love?
- We should love others because God loved us in giving His Son? (cf. John 3:16)
- We should love others because Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us?
(cf. Gal. 2:20)
- We love God in response to His previous love for us?
- We express God’s love to others because He regenerated us and gave us His
Spirit to enable us to love others? (cf. Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22)
- We express God’s love to others as a result of God’s having lovingly restored us
with His divine life in order to express His character unto His glory.
They all do, in a way.
By not having an object, it seems that John was implying that we simply
can love, not that we love a certain object. Though the immediate objects that come to mind are obviously God and others.
J esus first
O thers second
Y ourself last
The true meaning of Joy.