Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 John 4:19

"We love, because he first loved us." — 1 John 4:19 (ASV)

We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

We never would have loved him unless he had first loved us.

His love to us engendered our love to him.

We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

The reason for our love is found in free grace. God first loved us, and now we must love Him; we cannot help it.

It sometimes seems too much for a poor sinner to talk about loving God. If an ant or a snail were to say that it loved a queen, you would think it strange that it should look so high for an object of affection; but there is no distance between an insect and a man compared with the distance between man and God.

Yet love does fling a flying bridge from our humanity up to His Godhead. We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19). If He could come down to us, we can go up to Him. If His love could come down to such unworthy creatures as we are, then our poor love can find wings with which to mount up to Him.