1 John 4:19

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“We love because He first loved us.”

What this verse means

'We love because he first loved us' grounds every Christian act of love not in our own goodness but in God's prior love for us. The well we draw from is his cross, not our willpower.

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BSBPD

“We love because He first loved us.”

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“We love him, because he first loved us.”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“We love, because he first loved us.”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“we--we love him, because He--He first loved us;”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo 1 John 4:19 — 8 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Luke 7:47Therefore I tell you, because her many sins have been forgiven, she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
  2. John 3:16For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
  3. John 15:16You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.
  4. 2 Corinthians 5:14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.
  5. Galatians 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
  6. Ephesians 2:3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
  7. Titus 3:3For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
  8. 1 John 4:10And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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