“That you…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.” (Ephesians 3:17-19, ESV)
Have you ever been tempted to exaggerate? I have.
As someone who loves a good story and enjoys spinning a yarn, I find that exaggeration and a flair for the dramatic are usually nearby. At times I’ve had to retrace my steps to clear up a misunderstanding or apologize for a misstatement.
Some time ago, I spoke with someone struggling to view God as loving. I reminded her of the ways God showed His love throughout Scripture.
God loved enough to trade His glorified form for human flesh, to suffer everything we suffer, to invest in followers who rarely understood Him, to serve the fickle crowds who alternated between praising Him and crying out for His blood.
But He kept loving—all the way to the cross.
Near the end of our conversation, I was struck by a beautiful truth: There was nothing I could say to exaggerate the love of God! It can be misrepresented but never exaggerated. As big as I try to convey God’s love, it is bigger still.
As high or as wide or as deep as I try to communicate it, it is higher, wider, and deeper still.
Our finite minds cannot comprehend its vastness. Our limited imaginations cannot capture its magnitude. This immense Love put on a form that we could understand in order to reconcile us to Himself, and the import of that moment defies exaggeration.
May the glory of that truth fill you with awe and gratitude this season!
Originally published in God’s Revivalist. Used by permission.
