As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him…
— Colossians 2:6-7

Jesus summed up the love of the old covenant in two commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind”, and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Notice how much “self” there is in this love, for such love makes a person focus on himself and often leads to disappointment.

The love of the new covenant is expressed in these words of Jesus: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”, and also “love one another as I have loved you”. As we see, unlike the “old” love, the “new” love focuses us on God’s love and on Christ’s love for us. It is by coming to know the love of Christ, which, as it is written, passes knowledge, that we will be able to show it and pour it out on those around us. “So how do we come to know it?” you may ask.

In the epistle to the Ephesians, where Paul writes about knowing the love of Christ, he tells us how to come to know it: “that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge…” (Eph.3:17-19) We come to know the love of Christ when we are rooted and grounded in the love of God. All right, but how are we to be rooted and grounded in love?

The answer lies in the epistle to the Colossians, where it is written that we are rooted and built up in Christ (or in love, for Christ is the love of God) when we walk in Him just as we received Him. Remember your first love, when you received Christ. You did not receive Him out of fear of hell or punishment, but because you heard that God loves you, has forgiven all your sins and is always on your side, without any conditions or demands. Paul wrote to the Galatians: “What then was the blessing you enjoyed?” (Gal.4:15) But then the legalists covered your eyes with a veil through which it is very hard to see the love of God. But thank God for the Holy Spirit, who by the grace of God takes the veil of the law from your eyes and brings you back to your first love.

Prayer
Our Father, I thank You with all my heart that You loved me even when I was a sinner and gave Your beloved Son for me. Thank You, Jesus, that You gave everything You had for me — Your life — and revealed to me the love of the heavenly Father. Spirit of God, keep reminding me of God’s love for me, rooting and grounding me in it, so that I may be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season. Amen!