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GOING FIRST Read: 1 John 4.7–21 Bible in a Year: Job 32–33; Acts 14 We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 We worked patiently to help our heal and adjust to his new life with our family. Trauma from his early days in an orphanage was fueling some negative behaviors. While I had enormous compassion for the hardships he experienced in his early days, I felt myself begin to withdraw from him emotionally because of those behaviors. Ashamed, I shared my struggle with his therapist. Her gentle reply hit home: “He needs you to go first . . . to show him he’s worthy of love before he’ll be able to act like it.” John pushes the recipients of his letter to an incredible depth of love, citing God’s love as both the source and the reason for loving one another (1 John 4.7, 11). I admit I often fail to show such love to others, whether strangers, friends, or my own . Yet John’s words spark in me renewed desire and ability to do so: God went first. He sent His to demonstrate the fullness of His love for each of us. I’m so thankful He doesn’t respond as we all are prone to do by withdrawing His heart from us. God loved us first so we can love others. Though our sinful actions don’t invite God’s love, He is unwavering in offering it to us (Rom. 5:8. His “go-first” love compels us to love one another in response to, and as a reflection of, that love. Thank You, Lord, for loving me in spite of my sin. Help me to “go first” in loving others. God loved us first so we can love others. 
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Good example. Be a prism, spreading God's light and love, not a mirror reflecting the world's hatred.
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 Abracadabra 
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