How Would You Describe God’s Love?
Have you ever felt as if a sermon or Bible passage had been aimed directly at you? Imagine that you and a friend read or hear the same message. Almost without exception, each of you will be personally impacted by God’s love and truth in profoundly unique ways. It is no coincidence that the Bible describes the Word of God as, “alive and active” ( ).
The Dimensions of God’s Love
In Ephesians chapter three, we are challenged to try to grasp the “width, length, height, and depth” of God’s love. Sometimes when I read this illustration, I picture Christ as the carpenter. Carefully constructing His Church, He positions each person in their proper place, at the proper time, in the proper order. He does this so that together, we support and strengthen each other as we become vessels of God’s love in a hurting world.
But at other times, my heart and mind may gravitate to one particular aspect. Over the years, each one has seemed to jump off the page at one time or another. They serve to remind me of a specific attribute of God that speaks to my heart in my current situation. How about you?
How Do You Envision God’s Love?
- Consider length. It may remind us of God’s faithfulness. It is an awesome and humbling joy to realize that God has been, and will continue, watching over the full length of each of our lives, beginning from before we were conceived, through birth, life, death, and even beyond the grave!
- Width serves to remind us of God’s omnipresence: at any given moment, God is involved with every detail of our lives. Carefully orchestrating each one with perfect precision so that despite the difficulties, we might draw closer to the One who has loved us since before time began.
- The depth of God’s love may cause us to reflect on the fact that God knows us fully and completely, even better than we know ourselves. It may bring to mind the fact that Jesus was willing to leave His heavenly throne, suffer death on a cross, and be raised to life. As a result, He is able to meet us even in the darkest corners of our hearts.
- And lastly, height lovingly lures the mind and spirit of each one of us to bask in God’s holiness and sovereignty. To be reminded that He is above all things and yet, though He created the entire universe and everything in it, the greatest object of His affection is us.
“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.” NLT
“For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 1:9 NLT
Copyright © 2019 by Shadia Hrichi. Used by permission.
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