Love

I think it’s sad that the picture portrayed of Christianity is often one of judgmental people with a “holier than thou” attitude and wearing their “Sunday best” clothes who shun outsiders with hateful scowls. This is a gross caricature and the exact opposite of what Christ taught. At the heart of the Christian gospel is love.

I’m not very good at praying consistently and so I’ve developed the habit of using Bible verses to help my wandering mind to focus on what really matters. A scripture I pray often is this one from St. Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. It’s a bit long, but bear with me (emphasis is mine):

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:14-19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 In the middle of this prayer is the admonition to be “rooted and established in love.” As Christ’s followers, then, this is where we start. We start with love.

But what is the nature of this love from Christ? This same prayer includes two of its features: (1) it is immense, and (2) it’s impossible to fully wrap your head around it.

“How wide...?”

Jesus said "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." And so during His time on Earth he demonstrated His love through His compassion for the sick and the lost, loving on children and loving His disciples. The Gospels are full of these stories of His practical demonstration of God's love for them.  But He goes on to say "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." OK, so that's something more.  Paul expands on this in his letter to Roman Christians: "For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows us His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." So here then is the breadth of God's love.  Though we turn from Him, hide from Him and rebel against Him, he still sent His only son to rescue us.  And the nature of that rescue? He had to die for us. Quite literally and horribly, He had to die for us. And He did it. That's the breadth of His love for us.

“Love that surpasses knowledge...”

But it's hard to comprehend this love fully, I think.

If you're a parent or have a very close friend, you can perhaps imagine putting yourself in harm's way to protect your loved one. That's a glimpse of God's love for us in Christ, but His love is much more. John said "God is love," that is to say, love is at the very core of God's nature. In creating the Universe in the first place; in bringing life into existence; in giving us life individually, He shows His love.  In giving us free will to choose or not choose to love him back; in sending His only son to die for us; in raising Him from the dead so we can have eternal life too, He shows His love. In painting a beautiful sunset; in the laughter of a child; in the company of friends or family, He shows His love. With the still small voice of His Spirit speaking to mine when I calm my mind and pray, He shows His love.

I'm still figuring out the height and depth of God's love and I'm quite sure I'll never fully get it.  But maybe that's the point. I don't need to understand it fully, but I just need to accept it.

So, in my top 10 Reasons to Believe, for sure this is number 1.  I might go as far as saying I personally don't need any other reason than this one, but I have another 9 to go, so we'll see!

A not so old hymn from when I first became a Christian in the 1980's, still speaks to why I personally became a Christ follower:

Amazing love, what sacrifice
The Son of God, given for me
My debt He pays, and my death He dies
That I might live, that I might live! 
By Graham Kendrick