08 Apr Living a Life Worthy of Our Calling

Throughout the passage of Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul prays that his readers will possess inner spiritual strength, the indwelling of Christ in their hearts, the aptitude to grasp all the magnitudes of spiritual truths, and the surpassing knowledge of the love of Christ. Each of these characteristics are things that you and I should be consciously praying over ourselves and others.

In Ephesians 1, we are taught that we are purchased by the blood of Jesus. We have been set free from our bondage of sin and accepted as sons and daughters of Christ. Just as Paul says, we are holders of the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. God has shown us His affection through the gift of His son; because of Jesus, we have been invited into His family and given access to the riches of an inheritance through His mercy. We are rich beyond imagination. Our resources are unlimited. We are more than conquerors. And all of this flows directly from the love of Christ. In the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul prays that we will understand this truth, and in chapter 3 he prays that we will apply it.

In the culture we live in today, we are wrapped up in our outward being; we are consumed with this to the level of an overwhelming compulsion. We have a society that is preoccupied with trying to preserve the outer man. But the outer man, no matter how well he eats or how often he exercises, is wasting away. Conversely, the inner self is being renewed day by day. A strong inner man is the result of the indwelling of Christ in a heart by faith, as Ephesians 3:17 says, and only the Holy Spirit can infuse such strength in the inner man.

When you and I are more concerned with our outward appearance than our hearts, we run into a big heart issue: pride. However, if we choose to let the love of Christ define our lives, we will then be living a life worthy of our calling.

It is a challenge for me to continuously be aware of how my heart looks rather than my outward appearance. It is a daily fight to believe the things that God says about me instead of listening to the world. But, when we choose to focus on inward beauty, the importance of our outward appearance becomes less binding.

When Christ is at home in your life, He transforms you into love. But what does it mean to be rooted and established in love? By saying this, Paul is conveying that love is not marginal or superfluous; love is not a hit or miss or a minor detail. Rather, it is the vital root and ground of all that you are. When Christ governs your life, you will be characterized by love. His love will flow through you and will be evident in your interactions. You will be defined by a love that is deep and secure through all kinds of storms and shakings.

When Paul mentions the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of God, he does so in order to describe the vast aspects of His love. He also prays that we will have an unfathomable joy and knowledge of understanding that we are fully loved by God.

We can’t fully grasp the love of the Lord, because as finite beings we can’t fully see the infinite glory of God. We are blind to Whom we have belittled in turning away from God in order to pursue our own longings. We can’t fully grasp God’s love because we struggle to see the depths of our sin. If we genuinely understood that we are directly disobeying God every time we sin, we would fall on our faces in repentance. In turn, we would see so much more clearly the amount of love poured out at the cross.

Many times I have to realize that I cannot earn God’s love, but instead, it is a gift that He has graciously lavished on me. There is nothing that I can do that will make God love me more or less, and that is sometimes a difficult concept to grasp. When God looks at you and me, He sees Jesus.

There are so many things that we chase in order to fill a void in our life that is meant for Christ alone. We search for love in all the wrong places, but the love of Christ surpasses them all. We try to use many things to bring our life meaning, but only one thing will suffice. These other things such as money, relationships, a good job, and our health will consistently fail us. But not so with the love of Christ. We were created to be filled with God’s love and only His love can fill that deepest longing.

The love of Christ that has been given to us is not a theoretical observation or a scientific theory, but an encompassing love to be shared with one another and with our Lord, in order that His glory might be displayed through us. He wants glory. Unto Him be glory.

-Hannah Smith, Powdersville Campus