🔥 Behind the Fire #006 — You Were Loved First
Welcome Back to Behind the Fire
Behind the Fire is where we strip Scripture down to its core and center our lives on the holiness, sovereignty, and love of God. Every verse is a call to action. Every passage confronts spiritual apathy.
This week’s verse is the very foundation of Christian love and the death blow to self-righteousness. It is the basis of the gospel.
Scripture Spotlight
1 John 4:19 (ESV)
“We love because He first loved us.”
The Fire in the Verse (Background)
Who wrote this?
The Apostle John — eyewitness of Christ, author of the Fourth Gospel and Revelation, and spiritual father to the early church.
Who was it written to?
A network of believers scattered throughout Asia Minor, shaken by false teachers who denied Christ’s incarnation and undermined the atonement of the blood of Christ.
Why was it written?
To clarify:
- what real love is,
- where it comes from,
- how to discern true believers from impostors.
In contrast to false teachers who redefined love apart from Christ, John anchors true love in God’s initiating action at the cross. John’s message is not sentimental, it is surgical. It get's directly to the heart of God and exposes the hearts of those that are not God's children.
The Fire in the Verse (Breakdown)
“We love…”
This is agapĹŤmen - sacrificial, holy, self-giving love.
Not a feeling or niceness. It's not tolerance either. It's choosing Christ-Likeness
Action. Obedience.
Our love is a result, not a cause. An outpouring of what God has lavished on you.
It is evidence of something supernatural.
“…because He first loved us.”
Here lies the doctrine that destroys pride:
God moved first.
God awakened the heart first.
God loved first.
You did not initiate your relationship with God. You did not climb toward Him. You were not seeking Him. (Romans3:10-11)
You were spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1).
But God being rich in mercy ignited love in a heart that could not produce it on its own.
This is sovereign grace. This is regeneration. This is God interrupting rebellion with divine affection.
Your love for God today is proof of God’s prior work in you.
Behind the Fire
Every design we make, every Scripture we press onto fabric, every message we send — it all flows from this:
God loved us first — and that love changes everything.
We don’t obey to earn His love.
We obey because we have it.
We don’t fight sin hoping to gain approval.
We fight sin because the God who loved us first made us a new creation.
This verse is the furnace beneath the Christian life:
- It destroys pride.
- It fuels worship.
- It motivates obedience.
- It empowers love toward difficult people.
And it anchors your identity in something unshakeable:
the eternal, initiating love of God.
John roots true Christian love in God’s initiative so believers can distinguish Spirit-born love from the counterfeit love of false teachers. And this is the heartbeat of Spirit and Fire, men and women whose holiness is fueled not by guilt, but by grace. Whose obedience flows from gratitude, not performance. Whose love is fierce because His love was first.
Reflection & Application
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Where do you see evidence of God loving you first?
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How does this truth reshape the way you fight sin or respond to failure?
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Who needs to experience the “God-loved-me-first” love through you this week?
🔥 Fire Challenge
The first five people to submit their written reflection through the Fire Challenge Form will receive 25% off their next order.
Submissions close Saturday at midnight.
Call to Action
This week, love boldly — not to earn anything, but because everything needed has already been given. Let your life become an echo of the God who loved you first.
— Josh | Spirit and Fire
“Set Apart. Set on Fire.”