The Truest of Loves
“…may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:18-21
When I was a little kid, I had these plastic, fake-leather boots with a picture of Pocahontas on the side. I thought they were the best things ever at the time, and I wore them everywhere. Looking back through pictures, though, I don’t really agree anymore. Or the bright purple Sketchers that I wanted so badly and put on my Christmas list in fourth grade. At the time, they were the epitome of cool, and they had metallic trim running all along the side. When I got them for Christmas, I was so excited, but now, looking at the pictures, I think, “Yikes…” Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll look back at my Chacos and think the same thing.
My point is that the way we feel about things changes all the time. If we’re one thing as human beings, it’s inconsistent. Jesus knew it. He knew that people, real people like you and me, change our minds all the time. Our feelings also change all the time. Even the most level-headed people know that to be true.
That’s why we have to be so careful not to be ruled by our feelings. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul talks about being rooted and established in love - the love of Christ. Even the strongest feelings can’t shake Jesus’s love for us.
At my church in Auburn, our pastor would always say, “God’s promises aren’t true because we feel like they’re true or because we want them to be true. They’re true because they’re true, and they won’t stop being true when we stop feeling like they’re true.”
What we feel doesn’t change how God feels about us. Even when we feel unlovable or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, as if we would do just fine without God, Ephesians 3:18-21 reveals the truth to us. What we feel doesn’t change the fullness of Christ’s love for us, which Paul says is wide and long and high and deep and surpasses all knowledge!
I mean, wow, my friends. That’s an amazing love. That’s a love that keeps going long past our fuzzy feelings have worn out. That’s a love that walks with us into the deepest, darkest, hardest parts of our lives. That’s a love that covers even our most secret sin. In fact, Paul says that it’s such a great love, that it surpasses knowledge - it’s bigger than anyone can even dream.
I pray that even when you don’t feel the love of Christ, that you can look beyond the way you feel and return to the love Paul talks about here, a love that’s bigger than anyone can even dream.