Ephesians 3:14-19
“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Love
Human’s love – left to its own – is so incomplete. You can say you love, but on your own you will fall short of fully realizing the power of love. You cannot entirely love by your own power. You cannot completely love by your own initiative. You cannot experience love’s power by your own determination. You – alone – cannot wholly love.
It is only when God’s love fills you that you can even begin to experience the real power of love. As you learn to open your heart to the love of Christ, you can then begin to see a glimpse of what true love looks like. When your heart is over flowing with God’s love – then and only then – will you be able to begin wrapping your brain around the gift of love. And this understanding will just barely scratch the surface of love’s full potential.
When Christ’s love is experienced, everything else pales in comparison. It is only then that you can begin to realize your shortcomings when attempting to love. You can say you love, but without the power of Divine love your love is fragile and incomplete. You cannot even begin to open your heart to the genuine vulnerability needed to truly love another if you do not first rest in the arms of God’s love.
Your love does not have what it takes to withstand the pains and struggles of this world. Without God’s absolute love you cannot withstand the harshness of your life. You will build up walls to protect what feels so fragile. You will erect defenses in attempt to keep your heart from being too vulnerable, too open, too exposed, from breaking. Without the gift of Jesus, you cannot begin to feel the inner peace needed to fully be open to the power of all-embracing love. This love is the only real stronghold needed to survive this earthly life. It is the bread of life.
God has created you to long for the depth of the love that only he can provide. He knows it is all you really need. No matter what joy you experience in life, you will always hunger and thirst for something more. You will search for a love to touch the depth of your soul and satisfy the meaning of your life. Unless you look to the cross, you will always feel as if you come home from this search empty handed.
Without Christ in your heart, your attempts at love will be as if you are trying to hold a bucket of water in your hands. The water will pour through your fingers and all that you will be left holding is dampness. There will be enough moisture for you to know that the water is wet, but not enough water will be present to quench your thirst. You will be left with the unsettledness that implores you to move on in your search.
Do you want your thirst satisfied? Then drink of the living water of Christ. As all lovers do of each other, desire to know him as he already knows you. He knows the number of hairs on your head…he knew your name before we were born…he made all of your delicate, inner parts of your body and knitted you together in your mother’s womb…how intimate is his knowledge of you. He knows you like no other and loves you deeply and forever. Long to find out everything you can about him. Search out and learn about the ultimate love of your life. His heart longs for our love to be given freely, openly and trustingly to him. Know your lover, the ultimate lover, Christ your Lord.
It is only when you can begin to experience the promise of the Cross that you will begin to experience all that love promises. Christ, the ultimate lover, is your teacher. He is your guide on this journey of love. It is through him and only him that you will be able to experience the peace that passes all understanding which is the ultimate realization of love here on earth.
When God’s love fills you, it can’t help but bubble up inside of you and overflow into the world. It is only then that you will begin to understand “how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.” It is only then that you will truly be able to experience love in our broken world. It is only then that the power of love will transform you into the image of Jesus Christ. You will then be love!