LIVING A LIFE MOTIVATED AND GUIDED BY LOVE

BIBLE PASSAGE:
I pray that out of his glorious riches He may strengthen you with power 
through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your 
hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established 
in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp 
how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know 
this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure 
of all the fullness of God.
(Ephesians 3:16-19)

MEDITATION:
After Paul was converted from a persecutor of Christians 
to a messenger of the good news of Jesus Christ, he understood 
the importance of love in believers and the magnitude of God’s love.
In his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, 
he wanted them to experience the love of Christ.
We know from scriptures that God is love and if we follow Him, 
then we need to know about His love and how others can see His love in us.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Paul gives us some advice to help us understand what God’s love is all about.
First of all he prayed 
that they would be strengthened through the power of the Holy Spirit.
How can we experience the Holy Spirit, 
if He is not an active part of our lives?
We need to pray and ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit, 
but it doesn’t stop there, we need to also pray that other believers 
will be filled with the His Spirit.

Next, Paul tells us that through the strength and power of the Holy Spirit, 
our faith will increase, and Christ will dwell in our hearts.
What does it mean to have Christ dwelling in our hearts?
It means that we will look at things more from His perspective.
The worldly influence on us is lessened, and His impact on us is increased.

Also, when Christ dwells in our hearts, Paul says 
that we will be ‘rooted and established in love’.
Being rooted in love means that we will be motivated by love in all we do 
and say, our actions and attitudes will be different than they were in the 
past, and our thoughts will be influenced by a heart of love.
In essence, we become new people 
who are driven by love instead of selfishness.

Paul tells us that these changes in us 
will give us an identity with the Lord’s holy people.
When we belong to the family of the Lord, we will have 
a new capacity for comprehending the magnitude of Christ’s love.
Love will become more important to us than knowledge.
Lastly, Paul tells us that we will be 
filled with the ‘full measure of the fullness of God’.
What does that mean?
It means we will be able to view things more from a spiritual perspective.

It also means that we will understand the importance of prayer.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and 
requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all 
the Lord’s people. (Ephesians 6:18)

Our prayers will be constant (‘pray on all occasions’).
Our prayers will be intense (‘always keep praying’).
Our prayers will be broad in their scope of concern 
(‘for all the Lord’s people’; ‘all kinds of prayers and requests’).

ACTION:
To really know love, is to live a life of love.
Have you followed Paul’s advice for experiencing God’s love in your own life?
Has it affected you and caused significant changes 
in your thoughts, actions, words and attitude?
Have you become a new person, with a spiritual perspective driven by love?

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other 
and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. (1 Thessalonians 3:12)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your undeniable love for me. Help me 
to gain a greater understanding of Your love and how to live a life guided
by Your love. Fill me with Your Spirit so that I will learn to love others 
and to pray for them to know You, and Your love for mankind.”

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