Now, I will warn you that I am not a biblical scholar. I've never been to seminary, never read the whole bible; I haven't even studied the book of Romans with a group. So please don't take my thoughts as the gospel, but instead appreciate that I have found excitement by reading Romans 5:5, "because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
So, why does that excite me so much?
Well, after looking over different bible translations, asking the question of what this say about God, and thinking about what i already know of God; I realized that the Holy Spirit is a gift that I don't yet understand or appreciate like i should.
I don't fully grasp "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (eph 3:18), but today i also realized that i don't even fully grasp the various elements of His love (His manifold wisdom). And how can i, when i don't even take His entire nature into account?
In the past i focused (almost exclusively) on the fact that God showed me His love through the willing sacrifice of His son, because of verse 5:8, "God showed His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
This is an amazing verse (one i don't yet fully understand or appreciate) and states that He sacrificed Himself for the opportunity to develop a relationship with us. Jesus is the reason I have a relationship with God and gift of the Holy Spirit, but amazingly, Romans 5:8 says there is more. There is another element of God's love.
Romans 5:5 "because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
God uses the Holy Spirit to pour out His love into our hearts: my heart. The same Spirit that I can grieve by my actions. The same Spirit that I ignore when i don't heed His conviction or caution. Yes, God uses this Spirit to reveal His love for me. The One that I fail to acknowledge or thank daily, despite the fact that the Holy Spirit resides with me daily.
I am amazed at what LOVE means to God. Not only did He sacrifice His Son in order to restore a relationship with His enemy, but He chooses to have His Spirit (His Power) lives inside my heart daily. Even though some of my actions are known to grieve Him, He chooses my heart as His home. That's amazing sacrifice; amazing love.
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