ACC ~ 1 John 4 v19

WHY WE LOVE GOD. AUGUSTINE: By God’s grace we love him who first loved us, in order to believe in him, and by loving him we perform good works, but we have not performed the good works in order to love him. LETTERS 186.

GOD EXACTLY UNDERSTANDS US. ANDREAS: God loves us so much that even the hairs of our head are numbered, as it says in the Gospels.It is not that God goes around numbering hairs but rather that he has exact understanding and complete foreknowledge of everything to do with us. CATENA.

HE FIRST LOVED US. BEDE: From where would we get the power to love God if he had not loved us first of all? Jesus says in the Gospel: “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” We shall therefore be perfect in love if, following his example, we love him for no other reason than that he first loved us and gave himself for us. ON 1 JOHN.

1 Jn