Meditation on 1 John 4:19-20

We love others; we do not use or despise or worship them. We love others, not because we are good, but because God is good. We love others not of our own initiative, but as a response to the initiative God Almighty has already taken toward us.
And this, my friends, this is love: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us! Why do we--no, why must we love others, all men and all women of all nations and all tongues and all ideologies? Because we are first beloved! Because the Lord Christ looked at us, wallowing in our selfishness and pride, conspiring to take the throne of the God of Heaven--and He had mercy, friends, mercy! We committed cosmic treason, not only once but again and again and again until we did not know the difference between treason and loyalty. We turned our minds upside down so that evil appeared good and darkness seemed the brightness of day. We have followed our father, the prince of lies, in rebellion against High Heaven, fighting to take control of what rightfully belongs to the Lord of Hosts. And He, the one against whom we have committed these foul treasons, took on Himself our death sentence and offered us in return His righteousness, His perfection, His life.
Since we are recipients of so great a gift, we who are so undeserving, we must in turn extend the love and honor God has given to us to those all around us. Think you that it was only for you Christ died? No, but for all! This, and nothing else, is the meaning of ministry: we are ministers of the covenant of reconciliation, granting to all the undeserved grace, the unmerited favor, the unrequited love we receive at the Cross of Christ.