Dr. Dan Hayden •

Is your love broad enough to include people who are not like you?

In Ephesians 3:18 Paul talks of the breadth of love—love that doesn’t discriminate with regard to economic status, race, gender, or age. The Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Whosoever means anybody – even you. How could anything be broader than that?

Reminds me of the story of the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” In the absence of the sorcerer the apprentice casts a spell on a broom to carry water. But when the tub is full, the apprentice can’t remember the spell that would cause the broom to stop carrying the water. So he tries to destroy the broom with an ax. But each time he splits the broom there’s another broom carrying water. Soon water is running down the stairs into every corner of every room. You know, that’s just like the love of God—the more it is resisted, the more it flows, spilling out of heaven into every place where there is a beating heart of humanity. Now that’s the breadth of love.

And remember, God loves even you.