Alive to Live: Loved You First

Today kicks of the first in the Alive to Live: Masterful Steps to Meaningful Living series.  The root of experiencing the life we were created to live is the love that we have from God.  Walking with God is not inherently difficult.  The difficulty in walking with God is due to the fact that our ways of walking are often far different in pace and direction than God's.  So, the first step in this series is to get reacquainted with God's motive for everything: love.  And on Valentine's Day to boot!  Enjoy!


I love you.

I have always loved you.

I loved you when your mother first knew of your coming.

I loved you as you kicked and turned within her as you developed.

I loved you when you left the womb and felt cold for the first time.

I loved you when you drew your first breath – I was there – I gave it to you.

I loved you when you screamed as loud as you could in protest of your new surroundings.

I loved you when you recognized voices and found comfort in them, including mine.

I loved you when everything was brand new and exciting – long before your familiarity overtook your curiosity.

I loved you when you simply knew and believed in my presence, my love, my joy over you.

I loved you when you started to forget my voice and my face.

I loved you when other things crowded our relationship – other people, grades, lovers, friends, toys, hobbies, TV, surfing the net, did I mention TV?, and the drive to succeed.

I loved you when you questioned whether or not I ever existed.

I loved you when you knowingly and at times unwittingly thought things, said things, did things that were destructive to yourself and to other people whom I love.

I loved you when you knowingly and at times unwittingly walk over, kicked down and stomped the sandcastle I was building – my Kingdom in this world that improves everything for everyone.

I loved you when you made it personal, blaming me for stuff I wasn’t for, stuff I didn’t do, maligning my character, questioning my motives, damaging my reputation among others.

I loved you when you sold me out to save yourself.

I loved you when our relationship was dead.

I loved you when you finally grieved our estrangement.

I loved you when I sought you out.

I loved you when you heard my voice again, as if for the first time.

I loved you when you recognized me again, and returned in my direction.

I loved you when you fell in love with me all over again.

I loved you when we went from walking together, to running together, to dancing together.

I loved you when you proclaimed your love for me loudly, boldly, unashamedly, joyfully, confidently, uninhibitedly, carelessly, giddily, with blushed cheeks, with firmly planted feet, with raised hands, on your knees.

I loved you when you loved others and found me there.

I loved you when you gave all of yourself away only to find more of me where you thought there would be void.

I loved you when all you had left was me, and you found it more than enough.

I loved you when you drew your last breath of cold air that welcomed you so long ago.

I loved when you drew your first warm breath - I was there, am there, will be there – I gave it to you.

No matter how much you grow to love me (or not), know that I loved you, loved you first, and will love you ‘til (and through) the last.

Think…

1. Do you believe God loves you? Why or why not?
2. How did your parents or grandparents shape your understanding of God’s love? Did they say much about it?
3. How did you experience love from your parents or grandparents?
4. How did their expression of love toward you affect your understanding of God’s love for you?
5. How is God’s love the same as the love your parents have for you? How is it different?
6. How much does God love you? How do you know?
7. Read John 3:16-17. How does this express God’s love for us?
8. How have you learned to express God’s love to others?
9. Read 1 John 3:11-24; 4:7-21. What does this say about how we are to love? Why are we to love in these ways?
10. Read Hebrews 12:1-2. What motivated and sustained Jesus as he endured his torturous death on the cross? How does that make any sense?
11. Read Philippians 2:5-18. What example did Jesus offer us regarding the look and feel of love? What instruction did Paul give regarding the look and feel of love we are to pursue?
12. How is the love of God described in these passages different from the love you’ve been exposed to in your life?
13. How will you love differently in light of the way you have been loved by God?
14. Who is in your sphere that you get to love in the ways of God? Think of both the people you want to love and the people you struggle to love. What affect do you think it will have on them? What affect do you think loving them in the way God loves will have on you?

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:19 (NLT)