"[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!" Ephesians 3:19, AMP
Did you know that there isn’t a thing you have to do today to earn the love of God? God is absolutely head-over-heels in love with you. Do you ever find yourself doing this? Trying to earn the love of God, or trying to do something—anything—that will cause God to accept and approve of you? Well, none of your silly efforts can do a thing to cause Him to love you any more than He already does. I know that is a little hard to grasp, but it’s true.
In Romans 5:8 (NKJV) we’re told that, “…God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He showed the world, and He showed us, that even though we were separated from God because of our sin, He loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. That’s proof positive that He must love us without conditions. Because when we were in our worst condition He gave His all for us. But that kind of commitment and sacrifice is so contrary to the way this world works, it sometimes just seems like just empty words.
That must be why the Apostle Paul was led to pray that we would, “…come to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:19, AMP) His prayer is so personal and yet so practical. He prayed that we would come to know practically, through our own experience, the love that Jesus has for us. So, the million-dollar question is, why? Why is it so important that we experience God’s love for ourselves. Well that’s easy, because when we fully understand and experience God’s love on a personal level it will absolutely, completely and totally change how we live our lives.
1 John 4:19 in many translations says, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” Well actually, the more accurate translation is, “We love, because He first loved us.” In other words, when we come to know and experience God’s love on a personal level it affects every area of our lives. When we experience firsthand God’s love for us, then we can truly learn to love others. Even those folks who aren’t so easy to love. But it goes way beyond that – we love God, we love life, we love our friends, our work, our families – we become loving fools. All because He loves us. It’s contagious!
So, today I pray that God will find ways to make His love for you more real than ever before. I pray that God’s love will totally rock your world in such a way that you’ll never ever be the same.
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