Paul prayed for it. He longed for the faith and actions of his readers to be rooted and grounded in it. He wrote as if it is an immeasurable ocean with which God wants to fill us– in the face of all that we fear and hate (Eph 3:14-21).
He saw Christ as its source and that, in being filled with it, we can be filled with the fullness of God (Eph 3:19).
Paul also believed that all of the Law of God could be fulfilled by having it toward one another (Gal 5:14).
According to the inspired apostle, it’s found in Christ. It requires the presence and help of God to experience. It’s immeasurably huge. It’s inexpressibly important. It’s at the very heart of the character and presence of God.
So how can we begin to understand this love? On one hand we know that he expressed it to us in the life, death, and resurrection of his Son. But is the love that he has shown us in Son the same kind of love that he asks us to show one another?
What is the scope of the love Paul describes when he writes that “it” is “patient (suffers long)…kind…does not envy…does not boast…is not proud…is not rude…is not self-seeking… is not easily angered…keeps no record of wrongs…does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth…always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres… never fails…” (1Cor 13:4-8).
Do each of these characteristics of love first describe the way in which God loves us?
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