[Pastor Ralph]

Q2. (3:18-19) What kinds of things prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love? What happens in the way we live when we do comprehend, know, and experience this love? What would be different about your life if you could grasp this?

[Jezemeg]

Because of our 'human-ness' we lack the infinity of a divine Christ, in that when someone hurts us or does something to threaten us, our fear or feelings of resentment prevent us from 'loving' our aggressor in the way that Christ does us, despite our faults and actions. The closest to Christ's love, I believe is the love of a parent for his/her child, although even that is difficult to encapsulate at times. I believe few parents actually gets to the stage of 'hating' their child/ren, but they can get to the stage of not liking what they're doing at times. It is this way with any human relationship...no matter how much we 'love' (not lust after) a person, we needn't like everything they do or say.

But Christ, as does God, loves us in our entirety inspite of our faults and it is because of this all encompassing love that He sends the Holy Spirit to help us firstly detect, and then surrender everything that is not of Christ; that is hidden even from us; up to God, never to be reclaimed.

[Ken7]

Start with 'soils' of our heart. I once asked our Wed. night prayer gathering which soil type their heart was. I was a surprised by the honesty of many; "It depends on when you ask me". Everyone there is probably a believer - so my assumption was; "We all have good soil hearts".

The world ensnares us, our lives and family responsibilities distract us, etc. I study every day for a long while and I still have the world around me and my family seems to need me more not less - even church duties grow. I probably perform these duties and responsibilities much better as a result of this daily time with God. I want more time with God.

The balance is these people need me - as God wants to spend time with me. Balance and moderation are the key elements of my "GRASPING THIS".

[charisbarak]

The things that prevent me from comprehending the far reaches of God's love are the very things that make me self-centered. One cannot be wrapped up in himself & comprehend His love.

When we begin to understand, know this love, we become less self-centered & care more about those around us.

My life would be far less self-centered. I would have a burden for those around me who do not know the Lord. My feelings wouldn't be hurt so easily when others say unkind things. I would be able turn it around by loving them back.

The Lord has alot of work to do in me re: love.

[JustJeff]

When we wish to truly reap the entire scope of Christ's love we MUST lose our lives. Every thought, every desire must be surrendered to the Lord and replaced by His mind. When we fail to do this, evening clinging to the simplest of lusts, we restrict our growth and inhibit our ability to love in the same unfeigned way as He.
To live and love as our Lord is to be able to reach out and embrace anyone, no matter how destestable they seem to be or how much enmity they may feel toward us. To be one who has compassion for the unsaved, the hurting, the addicted, the street people, the poor and needy. To do this, not only as a holiday volunteer, or an hour a week soup kitchen helper or a poor box clanger but, as the Lord did, we must give of ourselves in some way, everyday in everyway, including prayer without ceasing.
My life is dung. What matters is serving to please the One who gave His all for me. When we grow to understand His love, love without price, we realize that it is an extoverted, giving love which is what we become, lights that light the whole world. That is what is happening to me. My light is becoming brighter. I am learning to give my all to help others as Christ gave His everything to save me.
Acts 11:26 refers to Holy Spirit filled believers as Christians. Jewish tradition believes that Moses received the Ten Commandments on the day of Penetcost. This would be a clear statement by God as only He can make.I pray for those who feel a need to put labels on those who may have a different inderstanding of the Word. We are all supposed to be one body, with many members, Christians one and all.

[masika]

It is lack of faith and not knowing Christ more that makes us not to comprehend God. When we have Christ , we have evrything we need for salvation and right living.

[kiqstart]

Q2. (3:18-19) What kinds of things prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love? What happens in the way we live when we do comprehend, know, and experience this love? What would be different about your life if you could grasp this?


I think it is when we try to be in control is when we prevent ourselves from Christ's love. If I could just completely turn my life over everyday and step out in faith things would be smoother

[haar]

The kind of things that prevent us from understanding the fullness of Chrisst love among others are:

= our inability to avail ourselve to the power of the Holy spirit to enable us know Him better, hence Paul's prayer for the Ephessians.
= Indulging in sin drives away the Holy Spirit from us. Consequently we are left without the source of power that will open our inner eyes to understand the magnitude of His love for us.

When we comprehend, know and experience the extend of His love for us, we will love Him and love one another better and deeper. We will live to please Him and live fulfilled lives full of joy as we walk in His way.

Our lives will be Christ like, more meaningful and more fulfilling as we grapse this.

[Lisa Rupert]

Q2. (3:18-19) What kinds of things prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love? What happens in the way we live when we do comprehend, know, and experience this love? What would be different about your life if you could grasp this?
Selfishness, control, power, lust, fleshly desires, etc. prevent us from comprehending how much Christ really loves us. The willingness to COMPLETELY (without reservations) surrender to God's will. Believing that his will is not the same will as man's will upon this earth. When we finally (completely) surrender to Christ something inside changes. Your worldly desires seem to diminish. You begin to thirst more, to nourish more on the Word and less on the World. If I could finally become more Christ like in the way I live my life I know I would be better to serve as my father wants me to. I would love unconditionally without judging. I wouldn't desire the things of this world that will not benefit me. I would be able to understand how easy it is for God to love me and for me to share this love with the rest of the world. I would not fear the things that are going on in this world because I would know in my heart that God is in control and it is all to benefit his will not the will of man. Because it is God's Will that will prevail in the end.

[sahala p.s.]

Q2. (3:18-19) What kinds of things prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love? What happens in the way we live when we do comprehend, know, and experience this love? What would be different about your life if you could grasp this?

The kinds of things that prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love are: firstly, we restrain the Holy Spirit permeate our entire being and remove our sin and selfishness hidden, so that Christ can not live fully and freely in us and can not know his love better and better. Secondly, we do not pray and effort to have power to grasp Christ’s love.

It happens in the way we live when we do comprehend, know, and experience this love, that is, we become more and more love Him, our brothers in Christ, our families, our neighbors, our friends. We will be more energetic and powerful to tell His love to every man.

It would be different about your life if you could grasp this, that is, we no longer afraid of or worried about whatever, about our lives, because we know fully in every condition His love remains accompany us. No one and no power can separate us from His love (Romans 8:35).

[Commissioned]

Q2. (3:18-19) What kinds of things prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love?

We are prevented from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love when we look to mortal love instead of looking to God. Time after time we see failure in human love and the tendancy to think that real love has no boundary escapes us. So that, when we try to comprehend Christ's love we are hampered by that which we are acustomed.


What happens in the way we live when we do comprehend, know, and experience this love?

When we experience Christ's love we ourselves will love beyond the natural. We would love as Christ love.


What would be different about your life if you could grasp this?
I would give more, do more, reach out to more people that need real love. OBEY HIS COMMAND TO LOVE.

Lord, help me to love as you commanded.

[Stan]

Q2. (3:18-19) What kinds of things prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love? What happens in the way we live when we do comprehend, know, and experience this love? What would be different about your life if you could grasp this?

Our owna human frailty of sins, jealousy, greed, envy, unforgiveness. All keep us from the real deep love that God has planned for us to have for each other.

We would become more the people that God deisres for us to be. We would become more like Christ loving our neighbor like the "good Samertain" with out any judgements giving with out question and forgiving like it was the only choice.

I would be a totally differant person for making judgement of other even before I know them is one of my own worse faults. I would have to love all people the same and for me this is hard especialy for those who have harmed me in some way. I would be closer to bieng like Christ and that would make me truly happy for like Paul the things that I hate I do and the things that I should do I don't. I need the full measure of Gods love in me and the fulness of the Holy Spirit to show me the way.

[pickledilly]

This is an important question for me because I find that in the practical living out of my life, I continue to wrestle with this phenomenal concept of how much I am personally, individually loved by the LORD. I think, in general, our human flaws and deficiencies keep us from comprehending the vast completeness of Christ's love. And it's so much bigger and more perfect than we can put our puny little minds around.

In the human realm, genuine love is misrepresented because of pride, lack of compassion, imperfect motives, inconsistency, selfishness, even fear, and just plain inability to be a sufficient channel. We are naturally emotion-driven creatures who misunderstand love, thinking it to be some particular feeling. It's hard to believe true love is a stable decision, not impulsive or fickle. We don't know how to truly be impartial and unconditional. So what we see and experience (and offer) of love in our world makes it hard to grasp that there really is such a thing as love that is wholly pure, consistently perfect, and unfailingly trustworthy.

We must desire to understand and reflect this kind of love because the LORD says it is the defining mark of the transformed Christian - and it reflects the essence of His character (1John 4:7-8). When we begin to comprehend, know, and experience real love it genuinely is life-changing. As I trust God's love more and more, I have become more confident that His will for me really is good and perfect. I believe that He can be trusted with my needs and desires. My healthy sense of value and worth has been enlarged and strengthened. And the way I view others is being changed. Love is a choice that seeks the welfare of others, desires no harm to anyone, and searches out opportunities to do good to all. Love is active, flowing, building, and giving. Heaven help us, doesn't our desperate world need such "love, sweet love"?!

[Patricia A. Conti]

God's love is unconditional for all people. Christ loved His enemies as well as His friends. Loving your enemy is a very hard thing to do. Judging, condemning, harboring hatred toward your enemy is much easier than loving them. We all suffer this at times. If we could truly attain or grasp this, we would see past the "faults" of another person and accept and treat them with loving kindness. If Christ could love all people, even those who were putting him to death, who am I to deny, judge, or condemn another person? If Christ loves, I need to love.

[Eudora]

Q2. (3:18-19) What kinds of things prevent us from comprehending the far reaches of Christ's love?

Being preoccupied with what I can get from God now. I know I am so guilty of that. I have to keep reminding my self that in Him and by Him, I have all that I need or could ever want. What I really need, is to get to know this God. To get to know the depths of Him and the width of Him. To come to know the one whom I have chosen to lay my life down for and that I have surrendered my life to.

My desire is to know more of Him. What makes Him tick. What makes Him laugh. What makes Him choose to be with someone like me. Why does He love me so? Why does He care about every single detail of my life. Why does He greet me each morning with His breath?

What happens in the way we live when we do comprehend, know, and experience this love?

When I really take the time to stop and think about the intricate love He has for me, that He should love a fool such as I, That He humbly loves me., I cry. I am in awe. I stand in awe of Him, who would do all that I could ever want or even hope for. That He does this, because He loves.. It make me want to lay down before Him a sacrifice that is worthy of this great love. His loves makes me want to be a holy fragrance before Him.

What would be different about your life if you could grasp this?

I would not ponder, or meditate, or question. I would just be all that He says I am and will ever be. I would just be. Lord Jesus, help me to just be... teach me Your way. Teach me how to shut up like You did when You were accused. Show me how to just be... In your name I pray.

[Eudora]

Picadilly, You inspire me. After I read this paragraph, I asked out loud, who are you?

The debth in which you have grasped the verse that you quoted, challenges me to think on a higher level, to really seek His understanding. He inspired the words written in the Holy Scriptures. Your translation of just this one single verse intrigues me. I thank God for you in this study. I thank God that He gave you a voice. I thank God that He uses people on this wide earth to impact my spirit in such a way. I thank God that You are on His team. - Eudora


We must desire to understand and reflect this kind of love because the LORD says it is the defining mark of the transformed Christian - and it reflects the essence of His character (1John 4:7-8). When we begin to comprehend, know, and experience real love it genuinely is life-changing. As I trust God's love more and more, I have become more confident that His will for me really is good and perfect. I believe that He can be trusted with my needs and desires. My healthy sense of value and worth has been enlarged and strengthened. And the way I view others is being changed. Love is a choice that seeks the welfare of others, desires no harm to anyone, and searches out opportunities to do good to all. Love is active, flowing, building, and giving. Heaven help us, doesn't our desperate world need such "love, sweet love"?!

[heavenlymann]

Christ's love isn't natural to the natural mind so I would say our own weak flesh prevents our understanding. We are born and live in a totally depraved, sin filled fallen world and there is none to demonstrate this love but one...Christ Himself... and we, His emissaries, as He imparts this knowledge to us. To that degree which we put into effect what we have been given He imparts more. And the more we do comprehend the all encompassing love of Christ toward us the more the renewed mind allows us to view others, and life, from a completely new perspective.

[godsanointed523]

The things that can prevent us from reaching out to GOd's love is that we have too much pride in ourselves,we can be lovers of the World,there is greed i mean there is so much that can prevent the Glory of God from passing through to our lives. When we do understand that He loves us and always want what is best for us then we can have anointing and be blessed filled in the calling that God has for us. There would be many different and awesome things that could happen in my life because Christ lives in me and the Holy Spirit as well.

[June]

Not seeing the "big picture". Not comprehending that God is everywhere and realiziing His great love for us.
We can not knoe the power of God's love for all of His creation. By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we can have God's power working in us and fullness of God. We have a greater love for mankind and show it in the way we live. We would realize that we can not exist without God's love and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.