Ephesians 3:17-19 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, (19) and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

In verse 16 Paul is asking God to strengthen the saints according to all the riches of His glory through the power of the Holy Spirit and verse 17 is the “why.”

• So that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith.
• That they may be grounded in love
• That they will be strengthened to understand the full dimension of God’s love through Christ
• And that they may be filled with the fullness of God

The Christian walk is a walk of faith that lasts a lifetime. From the awkward first baby step to the final triumphal entry into the promised land, we step one foot at a time in faith. These verses are so rich with promise and hope for every Christian. The hope that we, as we walk in faith, will be so filled with the fullness of God that His love comes through in how we think, how we speak, and how we interact with the world around.

Grounded in love means that we are rooted and established in the love of God. When our roots go deep, we are able to bear fruit that is beneficial for the kingdom. Jesus tells his disciples that apart from Him they can do nothing. He is the vine and we are the branches. Without being firmly attached to the vine, the branch can bear no fruit.

Today we are bombarded with things that will take us away from being grounded in love. We see churches trying to ground us in self esteem, or prosperity, or even healing. But the true believer sees the real root needs to not be the human capacity of solving some emotional need, but to seek after the author and definer of love itself. As we walk in His love, we experience His fullness in our life. We are able to identify who we are in Christ and work through the struggles that come from the deficiencies we carry with us each day.

This prayer from Paul on behalf of the Ephesian saints is for their strength provided by the Holy Spirit, their understanding of who they are in Christ, and their ability to understand the fullness of the love of God. What an amazing prayer for the people of God.

If you find yourself struggling with your identity in Christ today, I encourage you to grab hold of the power of prayer and seek after your Creator. Read through the Word of God and seek after His wisdom and knowledge for your life today. Who better to be grounded in than the God of the universe?

Here is a post from a few years back that I wrote called “What Does It Mean To Be In Christ?” I encourage you to read it and study the 40+ verses I share in it to help you see that God has clearly defined who we are in Him.

Blessings,
Keith