August 12: We Love Because He Loved First

At the meeting tonight, someone shared about calling their brother after ten years of silence. You found yourself wondering if you could ever do something like that. Where does that kind of love come from?

John keeps it short. We love because He first loved us. Our love doesn’t start with us. It’s a response. God moves first. We follow.

That matters for Step Eight, because this step asks you to care about people you may not feel much love for right now. People you’ve hurt. People who hurt you. People you’ve lost touch with. Where are you supposed to find that much love?

You don’t have to manufacture it. You receive it first. Think about how God has loved you. Through the drinking. Through the lies. Through the mornings you hated yourself. He didn’t wait for you to clean up. He loved you first.

When you sit with that, something begins to change. It’s hard to stay hard toward others when you know how much you’ve been loved. God’s love fills you up so you have some to give away.

Meetings are one of the places people see this happen. Someone shares about an amends, or a hard conversation, or a forgiveness that surprised them. It doesn’t come from their own strength. Usually they’ll tell you it came from God, or from people who loved them when they couldn’t love themselves.

That’s why listening at meetings matters. You hear what’s possible. You see that ordinary people, people like you, have been able to love in ways they never thought they could. It gives you hope for your own list.

You don’t need to feel loving toward everyone on your list today. Start by letting yourself be loved by God. The rest flows from there.

One thing today

Go to a meeting this week and listen for one story about amends or forgiveness. Afterward, thank the person who shared it.

A prayer

Father, You loved me first, before I deserved it, before I even knew You. Fill me with Your love until there’s enough to give to the people on my list. Amen.

Read how love shapes this step on the Step Eight page.

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