Not that we loved God

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" 1 John 4:10. 

We can boast as much as we can about our love for God, but the fact is that He loved us first and we can only love Him back. And we can love back when we experience His love, get soaked in it, saturated with it, and spend a lot of time thinking about it. He is the source of love. In the Old Testament, the law required people to love God. In the New Testament, God came in the person of Jesus and showed love, He supplied love. That is the only reason why we can love Him back. 

But we must stay in His love. Peter wanted to prove his love for Jesus, and said that even if all the apostles rejected Him, he would never reject Jesus. The fact is that Peter rejected Jesus the same night and 3 times with swearing and cursing. You cannot trust yourself or your love for God. It's is not stable, and fluctuates to often. You need to have a source to draw from. God is our source of love. So, it is not about our love. We have to receive first before we can give. Why? Because you cannot give what you do not have. And if you want to continually show God's love for others you have to continually receive and experience God's love for yourself. Let's stay in His love.