NOTES for Jo1 4:7-16

God loved people not because they always behaved well, not because they were especially likable, not because they loved Him... He loved us for no reason at all. And when we say, “Why should I love Vasya Ivanov? He does not love me,” we move the conversation out of the realm of love and into the realm of mutual accounting and other barter exchanges. Love exists for no reason; love consists in someone simply loving—not “in response to love,” but simply...