Fierce and Powerful Love

​Did you ever do something as a child that made you think, “This is it. I’ve gone too far. My parents will certainly disown me now”?
 
I remember being 16 and getting pulled over for speeding...it wasn’t my first offense, either. I remember the panic I felt as the police officer wrote my ticket.
 
In that season of life I wasn’t always the kindest to my parents. I was definitely a button-pusher and boundary-tester. Panic set in sitting in the car that day as I wondered if this would be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Fifteen years later, I can thankfully say that 1.) my parents didn’t murder me and 2.) they continued to love me despite my shortcomings that day (and of the many more that followed.)

As with many of us, I don’t think I fully understood the concept of “unconditional love” until I became a parent myself. When I gave birth to my baby girl, I suddenly realized why my parents didn’t disown me. There was a fierce and powerful love for my child, even though she had never done anything to deserve it. I knew, no matter what she would ever do, no condition or circumstance could break it.
 
It’s overwhelming to think that God feels that way about me— but even deeper (Romans 8:15; 8:17; 8:21). His love is not based on my efforts or goodness, but on His mercy alone (Romans 9:16). A speeding ticket, back talk, eye rolls and defiance didn’t separate me from the love of my earthly parents. However, the Bible takes it a million steps further in saying that neither death nor life, angels or demons, the present or future, nor any powers, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from God’s love for us (Romans 8: 38-39).
 
That’s a fierce and powerful love.
 
I bet if you’re reading this, you could classify the love you have for your own child as fierce and powerful. But I bet you also know that just loving your child hard isn’t enough. Fierce and powerful love for our children also means teaching them lessons for living a life that leads to joy and peace.
 
If my parents had never set boundaries and rules for speeding, there probably would have been many more speeding tickets and accidents. While their boundaries and rules seemed tough as a child, I know now that they saved me from further trials and regret. Similarly, Paul doesn’t stop in Romans 11 with just the foundations of God’s love for us. He continues in chapters 12-16 to discuss the practical applications for living our life out of that love. Paul understood that the practical applications he writes about would lead us to a life of joy and peace as we trust in God (Romans 15:13), rather than a life of trials and regret from trusting in ourselves (Romans 7:5).
 
God’s love is fierce and powerful. There’s nothing that could ever happen to change the way He feels about us. It is out of that love that He gives us boundaries for protection.

​Love and boundaries aren’t adverse to each other, they go hand in hand. Allow His extravagant love to sink deep and saturate your soul, and know every instruction in His Word stems from Him wanting the best for your life.

Memory verse: “Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39 (NIV)

About the Author

My name is Danielle Biddy and I live with my husband and two bulldogs in North Georgia. I am an occupational therapist working with children with special needs. Our daughter Caroline was born in March of 2019, but passed away three months later due to a brain injury sustained in the womb. Her beautiful, short life taught me so many lessons about being a mom of faith, including lessons of overcoming trials by relying on hope, gratitude, and love for our Savior. We are now expecting our rainbow baby, a little boy named Jace. We look forward to watching God’s plan to continue to unfold for our lives. Connect with Danielle at www.acceptsunsetembracesunrise.com

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