I want to share my morning devotional from Mornings with Jesus 2017 written by Cynthia Ruchti this morning. It is a great reminder of who we are in Christ Jesus.

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

A snippy customer service representative sighed heavily into the phone the other day. She hadn’t understood what I was asking her to provide. Her reaction startled me with its harshness. I almost responded with an attitude that matched hers. Instead, fresh from a lesson like found in 1 John 4:10 about our love for Jesus being rooted in the fact that He loved us first, I calmly reworded what I needed from her. The woman’s manner changed instantly. She apologized. At the end of our conversation, we expressed our appreciation for each other.

We make choices every day to live in reaction to our fears, hardships, and people who fail us or to live in response to the love of Christ. The first cripples and hamstrings us. The second sends us soaring.

A companion verse is 1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.” It immediately follows the biblical teaching that reminds us, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

We love God because we were loved first by Him, and we love others because of the way we are loved by God, as expressed through Jesus. So living in love means living in response to the love of Christ rather than as a reaction to fear, disappointments, and how others treat us.

Reactionary or responsive? We do have a choice.