There is a certain strength that comes from love.

This morning I spent a few extra minutes in bed cuddled up next to Ashley with Claire sleeping on my chest. I just let my mind wander about the greatness of love. When I met Ashley I thought that no greater love could exist. Somehow, that love continued to grow and on the day we got married, reached an all time high. Again, I thought it could grow no greater. But, it did…and it does.

Then, six weeks ago little Claire entered the world and the love in my heart grew exponentially…not only for little Claire but for my bride. Seeing her as a mother causes me to love her in ways I never thought possible with depths I’d never previously experienced.

But the truth is…there is a love much greater, much stronger. A love so great…it makes my love seem weak, and immature. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around…but Paul says the love of God for us is much deeper and wider than we can fathom. Take the greatest love you have ever experienced and multiply that love times a million and get just a glimpse of the love our Father has for us.

It’s like no matter what we experience in this world…no matter how much pain or rejection or disappointment. We can, although sometimes vaguely, imagine a place where we are perfectly loved. Just knowing that love exists…makes us strong. Our weakness comes not from our design…but from forgetting the one who designed us.

The love we experience for other people…is but an echo of the love God designed us to embrace. After all, it only points us to one who created love in the first place…and then wrapped himself in flesh to show us what it looks like.

luke