2 Corinthians 5:13-15 NASB95
For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. [14] For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; [15] and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
To be “beside yourself” is to be so overcome with emotion, both good or bad, that your behavior is almost out of control. To be beside yourself for God means that you love Him so much that you behave in extravagant and extreme ways because of being overwhelmed by love and joy. Paul said that he was “crazy for God” because the love of Christ controlled him. The word Paul uses that’s translated “controls” could also be translated “compelled,” but would be best translated as “taken.” We have been talking about living from Christ instead of living for Christ, and of the great consequences of living from Christ is that we get to participate in His love relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Being in union with Christ means that I’m also in union with His crazy love for God. Jesus joins our heart to His, and we get to love God from Him. The result of being controlled by the love of Christ for God is to live a “beside yourself” kind of life. There is nothing calculated or reserved for safe about this kind of life lived by Christ before God. Being struck by the divine madness that comes from being controlled, or taken by the love of Christ for God, is the radical and extravagantly big story we were all destined for and long for.