We love him, because he first loved us.
God's love to us is the root and spring of all our love; we love Him and one another as reflections of the beams He cast upon us first. If His love depended on ours, we would have no certainty; but His came first, so ours is secure.
AI summary
The Greek allows this to be read as either statement or command, but the sense is one either way: God anticipated us with free love, and we must return that love to Him and manifest it toward others. His prior gift demands our response.
AI summary
God's love toward us is eternal and unmerited, chosen and blessed before the foundation of the world. His love in regeneration comes first and produces ours; the more we see how early and free His love is, the more ours ignites in return.
AI summary