Ephesians 3:17b-19
“that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God”.
Paul's hope is that we comprehend the love of Christ. He lists the dimensions, width, length, height and depth. It apparently is great if it's that enormous.
He describes love in I Corinthians 13:4-8a, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails".
All of these traits belong to Jesus in great measures. We never need fear going to Him in prayer. One interesting description is "it is not rude". He won't embarrass us. He won't ask us to do something that will make us ashamed. I didn't understand this as a young believer. I sensed I was asked to do many things that were embarrassing. In hindsight, those things were probably not of God.
Another trait is "it does not boast". We all like recognition, however boasting is the wrong way to get it. When people boast, it often has the result of making the audience feel small. Love doesn't do this. God won't and we shouldn't.
Love isn't self seeking. This doesn't mean we aren't to seek our best interest. It means we aren't to do it at the expense of others. Allow the other to go first. As we grow in Christ, we learn to be sincere in this. We want others to be blessed.
What about us? Will we not get our needs met? This is where God blesses us for our selflessness. We reap what we sow. God blesses us much more in return. These are the rules of the kingdom of God. They are the opposite of the world's rules.
Love doesn't envy. Part of being in Christ is that He is our shepherd. Psalm 23 says that because of this we shall not want. He provides enough, if not overflowing. We will see things that cause us to envy. It's ok to pray for those things, but to have the attitude, "Thy will be done". While we may feel envy, we aren't to camp there, but to pray and give it to Him. If it happens, great, if not, it's for the best. He probably spared us from a bad way.
Lord, thank You for Your love. You want us to know Your love, but also to mimic it. Thank You that You are working towards that.