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Grace for All · Monday · 4 min

Deep and Wide

Ephesians 3:18 (NIV) 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. Maybe as a child you, like I, learned the song Deep and Wide in Sunday School, which teaches about God’s unconditional love and grace. The words are simple and repetitive: “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide. Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.” The image of the fountain symbolizes the abundance of God’s ever-flowing love and compassion. There is no shortage of popular music expressing the depth and length of human love, especially romantic love. Most of us can easily relate to the experience of loving deeply, of feeling an attachment that reaches into the core of our very being. We use words like ‘in over my head,’ or ‘head over heels,’ or ‘with heart and soul,’ to describe this kind of love. Most of us can also easily relate to the sense of love as unending, and know what it means to think of loving someone for a lifetime or, for eternity. We promise ‘forever love,’ and express our commitment to love that is ‘never-ending.’ When I think about my love for others, it is easy for me to identify many close family and friends I love deeply, and to imagine that I will always love them just as I do now. In other words, I can affirm that my love is both deep and long. But is my love for others wide? Is it high? Do I love like Christ? Does my love reach all people, without exclusion? Does my love lift others up, toward God, without exception? I am challenged today to think about loving deeply, but also about loving widely, to ask God to give me a heart of compassion that flows ‘deep and wide.’ Let us pray: Transformed by grace, may my love for others grow wider, higher, deeper and longer. Show me how to love as Christ loves. Amen. This devotional was written and read by Greta Smith. Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org. First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

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Ephesians 3:18 (NIV)

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.

Maybe as a child you, like I, learned the song Deep and Wide in Sunday School, which teaches about God’s unconditional love and grace. The words are simple and repetitive: “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide. Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.” The image of the fountain symbolizes the abundance of God’s ever-flowing love and compassion.

There is no shortage of popular music expressing the depth and length of human love, especially romantic love. Most of us can easily relate to the experience of loving deeply, of feeling an attachment that reaches into the core of our very being. We use words like ‘in over my head,’ or ‘head over heels,’ or ‘with heart and soul,’ to describe this kind of love.

Most of us can also easily relate to the sense of love as unending, and know what it means to think of loving someone for a lifetime or, for eternity. We promise ‘forever love,’ and express our commitment to love that is ‘never-ending.’

When I think about my love for others, it is easy for me to identify many close family and friends I love deeply, and to imagine that I will always love them just as I do now. In other words, I can affirm that my love is both deep and long.

But is my love for others wide? Is it high?

Do I love like Christ? Does my love reach all people, without exclusion? Does my love lift others up, toward God, without exception? I am challenged today to think about loving deeply, but also about loving widely, to ask God to give me a heart of compassion that flows ‘deep and wide.’

Let us pray:

Transformed by grace, may my love for others grow wider, higher, deeper and longer. Show me how to love as Christ loves. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Greta Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.

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