13-Aug-2024 – Let your inner man be strengthened in Love
Ephesians 3:19: “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
In this verse, Paul is praying for the believers in Ephesus. Today, we will seek to understand God’s will for our lives through this prayer. Beginning in verse 14, Paul prays for several key aspects:
- To be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.
- To be rooted and grounded in love, and to attain the ability to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, length, depth, and height of the love of Christ.
- To be filled with all the fullness of God.
If Paul is praying for these aspects to be present in the believers, shouldn’t we also be praying for these in our lives? Today, let us, as the Spirit leads, explore these aspects.
The first aspect is the inner man. This inner man becomes alive when we accept the gospel of our salvation in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
This inner man is not immediately strong on the day of salvation but must be strengthened gradually. This strengthening process is overseen by the Holy Spirit of God. As this inner man becomes alive, a conflict arises between our old self and the new inner man.
Galatians 5:17: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”
It is evident from this verse that we need to practice nurturing our inner man to become strong day by day. Just as the physical body requires nutrients from physical food, the inner man requires spiritual nourishment through the Word of God.
The second aspect is the love of Christ. Love is the very nature of God and can be considered the single most important attribute of God that sustains us, even when we are unworthy of His love.
Paul prays for the believers to understand the length, breadth, height, and depth of the love of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 13, we see a profound description of the qualities of love:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
Here, we find a comprehensive list of the qualities of love. Love endures for a long time, which is why God is able to give us chance after chance, even when we consistently fail Him. Love does not envy others’ progress or possessions, does not boast, does not think evil of others, and does not seek its own benefit. If we meditate on these qualities, we can discover an extensive list.
Paul’s prayer for the believers is to attain the ability to understand the full dimensions of this love—the length, breadth, height, and depth. This means gaining a complete understanding of the love of God in Christ.
When we grasp these two aspects, the third aspect—being filled with all the fullness of God—becomes possible. For us to pray effectively in the presence of God, we must first recognize that our inner man is alive and needs spiritual food. Therefore, we should prayerfully feed our inner man through daily meditation on the Word of God. Second, we must understand and practice the essence of God’s love, which has been showered upon us, in our daily interactions with others.
By practicing the character of love, we can comprehend its true value. Then, our journey to attain the fullness of God in Christ Jesus becomes more attainable.
Prayer:
Dear loving Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love and grace. Thank You for teaching us today about the important aspects of the inner man and love. Help us to practice exhibiting love toward our fellow human beings, testifying to the love of God. I pray in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen!
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