The Love We Long For...

A group of 4 to 8 year-olds were asked this question:

What does love mean?

The children's answers were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined...

Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day. - Mary Ann, age 4

Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well. - Tommy, age 6

Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy, and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK. - Danny, age 7

Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day. - Noelle, age 7

When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down, and little stars come out of you. - Karen, age 7

We may smile or even laugh when reading the children's replies and their perception of love, but they have captured some profound truths. Love gives without expecting anything in return, love stands the test of time, it remains steadfast, love desires to please, and brings out the best in all of us.

Love is often defined as a feeling of strong or constant affection for and dedication to another. But love is much more than a feeling; love is action.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

This is the kind of love we long for, though many times we have failed to love others this way. Despite this, do we know that we are loved in such a way?

We are loved with a perfect, infinite and everlasting love.

God is love, everything God does is loving, just as everything God does is just and right. And God loves us with a perfect, infinite and everlasting love.

Whilst he was imprisoned in Rome, Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches God may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may 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. Ephesians 3:14-19

Paul kneels with humility and reverence before God, the Father of all. Though standing was the common posture for prayer, Paul's kneeling reflects deep emotion and the intensity of his prayer.

He prays for the believers in Ephesus, asking that they be strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit in their inner being. The inner man was a phrase by which the Greeks understood three things. The inner man is the reason, conscience, and will of a person. Paul's pastoral heart pleads before the throne of grace that the power of the Holy Spirit strengthens the believers in all aspects of their inner being so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith.

Paul longs for them to grasp and experience the immeasurable love of Christ. This is a love that can be known even though it surpasses knowledge and transcends our human understanding.

The Infinite Love of Christ

Paul prays that the Christian may be able to grasp the meaning of the breadth, depth, length and height of the love of Christ. It is as if Paul invited us to look at the universe, to the limitless sky above, to the limitless horizons on every side, to the depth of the Earth and of the seas beneath us, and said, 'The love of Christ is as vast as that. - Barclay

Can we grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is for us?

Christ's love is the perfect love our hearts long for.

The only love that can satisfy our soul.

A love greater than any love we have known or experienced.

An unmerited, unconditional, sacrificial and everlasting love.

And Christ's love for us is revealed in how much it cost Him, in how little we deserved it, and in how much it achieved for us.

The Sacrificial Love of Christ

When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

The highest expression of love is that Christ died for His enemies. In this, His love surpasses all that has ever been manifested among people. - Barnes

Although we did not love God and rebelled against Him. Still, God loved us. 1 John 4:9-10

Although we were separated from God because of our sin, and did not deserve His love. Still, God acted in love towards us by giving His one and only Son as a sacrifice for our sins.

This divine rescue, based on unconditional love, resulted in a gracious act of self-sacrifice. It is important to note that God's love is a love that initiates; it is never a response. That is precisely what makes it unconditional. If God's love were conditional, then we would have to do something to earn it or merit it. We would have to somehow appease His wrath or cleanse ourselves of sin before God would be able to love us. But that is not the biblical message - the gospel, the good news - is that God, motivated by love, moved unconditionally to save His people from their sin. - GotQuestions.org

Christ's love has secured the salvation of our souls. Once, we were destined for divine wrath and judgement. But Christ rescued us. In Him we have redemption - the forgiveness of sins. Through Him we have eternal life, and we shall never perish.

His love fills the soul with joy, peace and purpose. When Jesus dwells in our hearts through faith, we are filled with all the fullness of God.

Our whole nature becomes permeated with grace, saturated with love, satisfied with favour, and full of the goodness of the Lord. -Spurgeon

The Everlasting Love of Christ

Christ's love for us is everlasting, compelling us to live for Him.

His love is eternal, without beginning; an everlasting love, without end; a love that knows no bounds; a love that never lessens and cannot be increased. - Spurgeon

In response to such love, we can only answer with love. We love Him because He first loved us. We live for Him because He sacrificed His life for us.

A Love That You Can Know

I was alone in my room, struggling to decide whether or not to believe in the Lord... Previously, I had laughed at people who had accepted Jesus, but that evening the experience became real for me and I wept and confessed my sins, seeking the Lord's forgiveness... As I made my first prayer, I knew joy and peace such as I had never known before. Light seemed to flood the room, and I said to the Lord, 'Oh, Lord, you have indeed been gracious to me.' - Watchman Nee

God's love extends to all people - every tribe, every nation.

His mercy and love are poured out over both the righteous and the unrighteous, over those who worship Him and over those who reject Him.

He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45

Yet, Christ's love cannot be fully known or experienced until it is received through faith. The invitation to know His love is for everyone, but the choice to accept it is ours.

Jesus said, 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.' Matthew 11:28

Come just as you are - with your sins, your doubts and your worries: 'Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away.' John 6:37

Oh love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee. I give You back this life I owe. And in Your ocean depths, its flow may richer, fuller be. And rejoice, my heart, rejoice, my soul. My Saviour God has come to thee. Rejoice, my heart, you've been made whole by a love that will not let me go. - by G. Mattheson