15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
This is one of my favorite passages in the New Testament. Paul is praying for us! He’s not just praying for the Ephesians, but for all who will come to know Jesus and allow Christ to dwell in our hearts! Think of what it means to be rooted and grounded in love!
Allowing love to be the motivator of all our actions! He wants us to both know in our minds and in our hearts the depth of Christ’s love for us so that we will feel full of joy. As you read this, I want you to take a minute and just breathe in the love that Christ has for you. It is almost overwhelming! It’s hard sometimes for us to feel loveable. We know our faults and failings and sometimes we don’t like what we see. Jesus looks beyond all this and sees the love we have for him in our hearts. This love accepts the good with the not so good, and forgives us. In some ways it’s scary to think of the implications of so powerful a love.
Remember the first time you fell in love? Remember how much you wanted to please the one you loved and who loved you? Love demands a response and the greater the love, the greater our desire to be equal to that love. With Christ, there is no way for our love to be equal to his. All we can do is follow him to the best of our ability; to love others as he loves us.
As we think about the depth of Christ’s love for us, let us take a moment to give thanks and to renew our commitment to be the person God created us to be.
Lord, how can we thank you for loving us? What can we do to please you? Please give us loving hearts so that others may come to know and love you as we do. Amen.
