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Jun 14, 2025 06:00am

Loved You First

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Our son and daughter have blessed us with three wonderful grandchildren and two perfect great-grandsons. Of course, I love them all the same, but our youngest granddaughter, Savana, and I have what my Mammaw used to call a “kindred spirit.” I get to see and enjoy her more since she lives in the same county and, unlike the other two, is still single and living at home.

When she and I say “goodbye,” whether we’re signing off on a telephone message or saying goodbye in person, the conversation between us is always the same:

Me: I love you!
Savana: I love you more!
Me: I loved you first!

That pretty much gives me the final word because, from the moment we knew she was on the way, she had my whole heart… just as it had been with her brother, Hunter, and cousin, Baleigh. It would be years before she even knew how to love, so I think I definitely have seniority in the “love you” arena!

But do I really?

When I really think about that, my thoughts turn to a conversation I might have with God:

Me: I sure do love You, Lord.
Him: I love you, too… and I love you more and I loved you first because:
“I so loved the world, that I gave My only begotten Son, that whosoever (that includes you, Diane) believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
And I did that long before you even knew how to love Me because I “proved My love for you in that while you were still a sinner, My Son (Jesus Christ) died for you!” (Romans 5:8)
And on top of all that, the only reason you know how to love in the first place is “because I first loved you!” (1 John 4:19).

That pretty much settles it… the one who has seniority in the love arena is definitely God, and His love never fails because Jeremiah 31:3 tells me that He “loves me with an everlasting love.”

Does that thrill you like it does me? Think about it — there is nothing better than being loved, and there is nobody who does it better than God. That’ll preach!