“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:4-21, English Standard Version)

My friend, Steve, prayed this morning that “God would give [me] the strength to believe that I am loved.”

Yes!  It takes strength to believe that!  There is so much hatred in the world, so much hatred in me, that love seems delusional.  Also, I remember all the evil I’ve done.  It is difficult to love a person like me, even when I’m me.

I wondered whether there were any Bible passages that linked strength with love.  The passage from Ephesians that leads off this post came to mind.

Several things are of interest here.  First, did you notice that the Triune God is involved in this strengthening process?  The Father is invoked in verse 14, the Holy Spirit in verse 16, and Christ Jesus in verses 17, 18, and 21.  We’ve got some pretty ferocious Lovers on our side!

Second, this is not a promise for pious particles, for individuals.  Rather, this is a corporate promise.  The pronouns “we” and “you” are all plural.  None of us, by ourselves, can even begin to understand the love of God for us.  We need one another.

Third, this is a kind of love that we can know.  In fact, Paul prays that we can know this love.

However, fourth, we are called to know this love which surpasses knowledge.  How can we know something that surpasses knowledge?  I don’t know, but that is what Paul is wishing and praying for the people to whom he is writing. And, since I believe that the Bible is God’s Word for all people of all times, it is also God’s desire for all of us.

Fifth, being strengthened to experience love is a demanding business. Foulkes comments, “The word translated may have power (Gk. exischysēte) and also the verb comprehend (katalabesthai), meaning ‘an earnest grasping’, suggest the difficulty of the task envisaged, simply because it is no mere intellectual feat, but a matter of practical experience, a living together in love which is inevitably costly.”^[1]

Finally, this love is God’s love for us, as shown especially in his Son, Christ Jesus.  However, it is also our love for others.  Again, Foulkes comments, “However we interpret the dimensions of verse 17, the definite goal to which the Christian life must move, and for which therefore the apostle prays, is for his readers to know the love of Christ, to know how he loved and loves, and to experience his love in loving him and loving others for his sake.”^[2]

Let’s pray to be strong in love today!  Strong in believing that we are loved, and strong in loving God and others.

^[1]Francis Foulkes, Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary, TNTC 10; IVP/Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 111.

^[2]Francis Foulkes, Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary, TNTC 10; IVP/Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 112.

that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:4-21, English Standard Version)

My friend, Steve, prayed this morning that “God would give [me] the strength to believe that I am loved.”

Yes!  It takes strength to believe that!  There is so much hatred in the world, so much hatred in me, that love seems delusional.

But then, I wondered whether there were any Bible passages that linked strength with love.  The passage from Ephesians that leads off this post came to mind.

Several things are of interest here.  First, did you notice that the Triune God is involved in this strengthening process?  The Father is invoked in verse 14, the Holy Spirit in verse 16, and Christ Jesus in verses 17, 18, and 21.

Second, this is not a promise for pious particles, for individuals.  Rather, this is a corporate promise.  The pronouns “we” and “you” are all plural.  None of us, by ourselves, can even begin to understand the love of God for us.  We need one another.

Third, this is a kind of love that we can know.  In fact, Paul prays that we can know this love.

However, fourth, we are called to know this love which surpasses knowledge.  How can we know something that surpasses knowledge?  I don’t know, but that is what Paul is wishing and praying for the people to whom he is writing. And, since I believe that the Bible is God’s Word for all people of all times, it is also God’s desire for all of us.

Fifth, being strengthened to experience love is a demanding business. Foulkes comments, “The word translated may have power (Gk. exischysēte) and also the verb comprehend (katalabesthai), meaning ‘an earnest grasping’, suggest the difficulty of the task envisaged, simply because it is no mere intellectual feat, but a matter of practical experience, a living together in love which is inevitably costly.”^[1]

Finally, this love is both God’s love for us, as shown especially in his Son, Christ Jesus.  However, it is also our love for others.  Again, Foulkes comments, “However we interpret the dimensions of verse 17, the definite goal to which the Christian life must move, and for which therefore the apostle prays, is for his readers to know the love of Christ, to know how he loved and loves, and to experience his love in loving him and loving others for his sake.”^[2]

Lets pray to be strong in love today!  Strong in believing that we are loved, and also strong in loving God and others.

^[1]Francis Foulkes, Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary, TNTC 10; IVP/Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 111.

^[2]Francis Foulkes, Ephesians: An Introduction and Commentary, TNTC 10; IVP/Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 112.