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The Love of God

  • Sam Peters
  • Jan 27
  • 3 min read

(There's a free eBook offer at the end of this article. Read through to the end to find out how to get your copy)

The first month of the New Year is just about over. As I turn the page on my calendar to look ahead, I see that right there in the middle of February is Valentine’s Day. Well, that got me to thinking about the subject of love—and God’s love for us in particular. One of my favorite hymns was written in 1917 by Frederick Lehman: The Love of God. The first verse goes like this:

The love of God is greater far

than tongue or pen can ever tell;

it goes beyond the highest star,

and reaches to the lowest hell.

The wand'ring child is reconciled

by God's beloved Son.

The aching soul again made whole,

and priceless pardon won.

Take a moment to reflect on those words. The imagery is stunning, isn’t it? God’s love is described as so vast and incomprehensible that it exceeds the capacity of our language to express it. Romans 5:8 reminds us of this truth: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were wandering and lost, God’s beloved Son reconciled us through His sacrifice on the cross. His love reached down to the lowest depths, making our aching souls whole and granting us priceless pardon. We will never appreciate God’s love for us or His grace until we understand how lost we were.

This is the kind of love that is not conditional, not dependent on our worthiness, and not limited by our failures. It is immeasurable, unchanging, and transformative.

The second verse is perhaps my favorite:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

and were the skies of parchment made;

were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill,

and ev’ryone a scribe by trade;

to write the love of God above

would drain the ocean dry;

nor could the scroll contain the whole,

though stretched from sky to sky.

Here, Lehman captures the poetic impossibility of fully describing God’s love. Imagine using all the ink in the ocean, all the skies as parchment, and every person as a scribe—and yet, even that would not be enough to capture the fullness of God’s love! Ephesians 3:17-19 echoes this sentiment, calling us to grasp “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge” (NIV).

This verse also serves as a humbling reminder: our understanding of God’s love is limited, but that doesn’t diminish its reality or power. It stretches beyond what we can imagine or articulate—a love that sustains and endures forever.

The hymn’s refrain encapsulates it beautifully:

O love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure—the saints’ and angels’ song.

How rich and pure indeed! This love is not only for us to receive but also to share with others. As 1 John 4:19 says, “We love because He first loved us.” Our call is to live in that love daily, letting it shape how we interact with God, ourselves, and those around us.

I’d like to invite you to dive deeper into this life-changing love by offering you a free copy of my eBook devotional, Living in Love: A 28-Day Journey Through Scripture. If you subscribe to my new website, smallchurchcoaching.com, you will automatically receive a free copy sent to your email.

Let’s journey together in understanding and living out the love of God in February.

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If this article encouraged you, please share it with your friends and community. Let’s spread the word about the immeasurable love of God!

 
 
 

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