Reading: Romans 5:6-11
Reflective Thoughts
How much does He love you?
What do you know about love? Most of us understand love based on how we experience it. Love feels good-love is warm and sweet, like how we feel toward our children. Love is committed, passionate and driven-sometimes all at once–like how we feel toward our spouses. Love is faithful and abiding, like how we feel about our best friends.
We know that God is love (1 John 4:8), and we often think of the pleasant things we experience from Him. But good feelings are only part of it. Paul, in Ephesians 3:18-19, prayed that we would know the vast dimensions of God’s love. It is knowable, but it might not always be what we think. We might not consider love as humiliation. Love doesn’t feel like a beating. Or being spit upon? Or whipped beyond recognition? Love doesn’t feel like dying for people who hate you. Love doesn’t feel like a cross.
Knowing the breadth of God’s love takes our breath away when we realize that He loved us while we were still His enemies. No Hallmark card could ever express it. But your loving behavior toward others will express what you know about His love for you.