Rooted and Grounded in Love
Apr 5, 2010
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3.14-19
In the sentence above the apostle Paul is telling the church at Ephesus a consistent prayer request that Paul makes to the Father on their behalf. His prayer is that the church would grow in the incomprehensible knowledge of Christ. Paul wants this church in Ephesus and our church today to know intellectually, experientially and intimately the love of Christ. Christ loved us first and gave up His life for us on the cross while we were still sinners (Romans 5.8). I pray that we would embrace and be filled with such knowledge.
C.T. Studd, pioneer missionary to China, India and Africa, responded to the love of Christ in saying, If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him (Strauch, Alexander, Love or Die, p. 34). What if we thought the same way? If so, our love would not grow cold or stagnate. Instead it would be ever increasing and dynamic both for God and for others. We must be ever growing in the love of Christ. We cannot stop or think that we have attained all we can when it comes to loving Him.
My greatest encouragement to you this week is to pray that you would be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ. Pray that we as a church would walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us (Ephesians 5.2). Let it begin in the home. Let it grow in community. Let it be toward all people. Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
Comments
John Harris on Mar 11, 2010 10:40pm
It's an amazing thing to think that knowing God's love, not just comprehending that it exists, but fully experiencing it, requires the believer to be rooted and grounded in love first. This passage paints a picture of something that we first come to, namely God's love, because we think it's the greatest thing ever, and upon further investigation we realize it's better than we ever thought. The good that drew us to Christ was only the tip of the iceberg, but it was all that we could handle at the time. As we become more firmly grounded in God's love, we are able to experience more of the inexhaustible riches of the fullness (depth and height) of love, real love, God...