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“We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
This verse is beautiful, and we can understand that we love the Lord Jesus because He first loved us, and died for us. But in a better translation of this verse, the word “Him” should not be there. It should read, “We love, because He first loved us.” There are several words in the Greek language for love, and the love spoken about here is divine love. It is a love that keeps on loving, even if the other person does not love us back. That is the way God’s love works, and that is why the Lord Jesus went to the cross and died for us, even though people hated Him.
We all have the ability to love naturally, such as love in our families, love among good friends, etc. But divine love can only exist when we have a new life in Christ; it enables us to love those who do not love us. When we are saved, we have the capacity to love others, and to do things for others, even though they dislike us.
That is how the Lord Jesus could tell His disciples to love their enemies, and to do good to those who treated them badly. That is not natural to us, but we can do it if we have a new life in Christ. See if you can find the verse that tells us to love our enemies. It is in what is often called “the sermon on the mount” in Matthew.
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