True love originates with God, not with us. We did not discover Him; He sought us. We did not choose Him first; He chose us. The initiative in salvation belongs entirely to the Father, who loved us before we ever thought to love Him. This reverses our natural assumption that religion is about humans reaching upward toward a distant deity. Instead, the gospel reveals a God who reaches downward, who enters our darkness, who pays the price for sins He did not commit. Love is defined not by our emotions or efforts but by God's action—He sent His Son.

The prophet Hosea lived this truth in painful reality. God commanded him to marry Gomer, a woman who would prove unfaithful, breaking his heart through repeated adultery. Yet even after she abandoned him and sold herself into slavery, Hosea was told to go and buy her back, to redeem her at great cost, and to love her again. This was not a story about Hosea's feelings but about God's character. Israel had played the harlot, chasing after other gods, breaking covenant after covenant. But the Lord declared: "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely" (Hosea 14:4). Like Hosea redeeming Gomer, God redeemed unfaithful Israel.

This same pattern runs through Scripture and into our lives. We are the bride who wanders, yet God pursues and brings us home. His love is not a response to ours but the source of it. "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). As the old year's failures tempt us to doubt God's affection, Hosea's story reminds us that divine love is freely given despite unfaithfulness. The new year begins not with our promises to God, but with His unbreakable promise to us.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us first, for seeking us when we were lost, and for sending Your Son to redeem us at infinite cost. Like Hosea with Gomer, You have pursued us with relentless love. Help us to rest in this love and to return it with faithful hearts as we enter the new year. Amen.