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.
~Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT)
One of the greatest powers available to Christians is understanding of God’s Love. Salvation is the result of faith but power (according to Ephesians 3:19) flows from a growing understanding of God’s love.
I’ve been a Christian for over 25 years and I’m struck each day with the fact that I’m just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding His Love. Paul writes that “it is too great to understand fully.” But that should never stop us from seeking to understand it better than we currently do.
Meditate on these truths about God’s Love for His children:
- He will never love you more than He loves you right now.
- He will never love you less than He loves you right now.
- Your hang ups, quirks and even sins don’t make Him embarrassed by, ashamed of or displeased with you. Why not? Because He has made you PERFECT through Christ’s atoning work.
- Your good behavior, kind words and obedience don’t make Him proud of or pleased with you. Why not? Because you can’t improve on perfection; You are already perfect in Christ.
So why should we, as Christians, strive to live Holy lives? Not for God’s approval and certainly not for fear of rejection. Yet, many believers live powerless and empty lives trying to please God. By living this way we will never feel, like we measure up. We will feel as though we are never good enough. We will struggle with guilt and shame.
Do you ever experience those feelings? If so, remember Paul’s words from Ephesians 2:18-19, “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.”
Think about it for a second: salvation is the result of experiencing God’s love by faith. And according to this passage there’s another way Christians can experience His Love after placing their faith in Him: understanding. Power and fullness of mind come from experiencing God’s love through understanding.
When we realize we can’t please Him more, we become free from the performance trap. When we realize we can’t make God think less of us, we are free from shame. When we realize we are completely loved by Jesus, we are liberated from the approval of others.
When these thoughts sink in and become our default ways of thinking, we will strive to live Holy lives because we are overwhelmed with gratefulness and we long for our lives to point others to Jesus. In that time our behavior is not bound to religion, performance, guilt, or pride. Instead our behaviors will flow from the new minds we have in Christ.
Why are you currently trying to obey God? Is your life one that you would describe as complete and full?
Replace your broken thinking with the truths about God’s love listed above. Read those truths aloud to yourself for 3 weeks and your thinking will change. Freedom for guilt, shame, frustration, religion, and performance can be yours. They can be replaced by fullness and power, but only when you deepen your understanding of God’s love.