I was reading this prayer today,
"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 3:17-19 NIV
There is so much there, in so few words. What strikes me is how important it is to understand God's love for us and then to have that love for others. Paul expresses this as a prayer, basically asking for a deeper revelation of God's love for the church in Ephesus. Perhaps there is a connection stemming from their need to understand God's love and to love him in return that later leads to a rebuke from Jesus in Revelation.
Despite their good deeds, their bold works, they moved away from this foundation of love, and Jesus warned them to return to it.
"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen!" Rev 2:4 -5 (NIV)
Anger at the sin around us is easy, maintaining a foundation of both knowing God's love and showing it, can be difficult. Love for God and the world around us comes from a proper understanding of God's love for us.
I'd like to offer this as a challenge today, think of a few brothers and sisters that you know and pray this prayer for them.
