Do I love so deeply that it feels like my insides are about to tear apart? (See #19.) Yes, perhaps for a handful or two of people. But for everyone? We are fortunate—the love Peter speaks of is “brotherly love” (philia love). It’s the love that binds Christians together. It’s the love Jesus referred to when He said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples—if you love one another” (John 13:35).
Even here, I fall short! The fellow believers “across the fence” are still family in faith—do I love them with this passion? I must bow my head and admit: the intensity of my love has its limits. My boiling-point love quickly drops to below freezing.
The irony is that this is precisely where God wants us—to the point where we must acknowledge: WE CANNOT! If I can’t even love “my own kind” with the love that is appropriate, how will I ever love the “others” who are not part of “us”—fearlessly? Once again (in capital letters): WE CANNOT! Though we must. Yet this is where God wants us! We cannot love like that, but God can! Only when we truly confess this can we begin to pray the prayer of Ephesians 3:18-19: “May you have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:18-19).
And the more I begin to understand this love, the more I will start to pray it for you… and you… and you. The circle widens. Ever wider.
PRAYER: I pray what Paul has already begun, Lord… (Eph 3:18-19)
ART: Lydia, 1878–79 by Mary Cassatt
MUSIC:
Let’s listen to Amboss’s song “O My Soul.”
From the lyrics:
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
For His love has made me whole.
Every part of me will sing,
Praises my God, praises my King.
O my soul, bless His name,
In His love, I’m not the same.
O my soul, sing His praise,
He is good in all His ways.
O my soul, lift Him high,
Praise Him now, the Lord is nigh.
He forgives and sets me free,
Shows His mercy endlessly.
He redeems my life from death,
Fills me with His holy breath.
O my soul, bless His name,
In His love, I’m not the same.
O my soul, sing His praise,
He is good in all His ways.
O my soul, lift Him high,
Praise Him now, the Lord is nigh.
From the heavens to the earth,
Praise His name for all He’s worth.
Soul, arise and sing His praise,
Forevermore, His name we raise.
O my soul, bless His name,
In His love, I’m not the same.
O my soul, sing His praise,
He is good in all His ways.
O my soul, lift Him high,
Praise Him now, the Lord is nigh.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
In His love, I am made whole.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.