Day 6 — Strengthened Through The Spirit

Introduction

Last week we considered the overarching aim of St Andrew’s vision: Growing disciples of Jesus Christ. And we looked at Jesus’ promise to build his church and form disciples who follow his cross-shaped way. This week we turn to the first of three underlying means of our church’s vision: maturity: becoming more like Jesus in our character.

Christian maturity is not simply growing older, accumulating knowledge or becoming busier. Paul prays for God to strengthen his people through the Spirit, deepen their grasp of Christ’s love and shape their life together. As you read, notice that this growth begins with God’s work in us and bears fruit in the way we love.

Opening Prayer

Father, strengthen my faith through your Spirit. Help me to grasp the immeasurable love of Christ and to trust him more fully. Shape my character and teach me to love your people as I grow in him. May my life and our church bring glory to you. Amen.

Headline

God matures his people as his Spirit strengthens them to know Christ’s love and live under his loving rule.

Ephesians 3:14-21

Comment

How does God’s love move us towards maturity?

Paul begins, “For this reason” (v.14). He has just described God’s plan to unite people in Christ and make them his dwelling by the Spirit. Paul kneels to pray because he knows believers need God to keep working in them.

Paul asks the Father to strengthen Christians through the Spirit. This is strength to trust Christ, obey him and persevere when sin or suffering makes his love hard to see. Maturity is not self-improvement; God works in us, and we respond by faith.

Paul prays that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (v.17). He writes to Christians, so he is not suggesting that Jesus is absent until they reach maturity. He asks that Christ’s presence and rule shape their whole lives as faith deepens. We grow by trusting him with every part of who we are.

Christians are to be “rooted and established in love” (v.17). This love is the ground of growth, not a reward for reaching maturity. Christ gave himself for sinners, and the Spirit helps us take his love to heart. We do not earn God’s welcome by becoming loving; we learn to love because he first loved us in Christ.

Paul wants us to grasp, “together with all the Lord’s holy people” (v.18), the greatness of Christ’s love. Growth is not private. God gives us other Christians to remind us of the gospel, encourage us when we doubt and help us practise love. We need one another as we mature.

This love “surpasses knowledge” (v.19): we can know it truly through Scripture and Christ’s self-giving death, while never exhausting its depth. When painful experiences or accusing thoughts make us doubt God’s care, we bring them to the truth of the cross and ask the Spirit to help us trust what Christ has done.

Paul prays that believers be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (v.19). This does not mean we become God; he asks that we increasingly reflect God’s character and become like Christ. Later, Paul speaks of the church growing towards maturity and the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Knowing Christ’s love should shape how we live, not merely what we can explain.

Paul ends in praise: God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (v.20). This does not promise that every ambition or preferred outcome will be fulfilled. It assures us that God’s power can keep forming his church in Christ, even when our growth is slow or uneven.

At St Andrew’s, we want to grow in maturity, but not measure it by activities or attendance alone. Prayer, Scripture, worship, small groups and service are ways God helps us remain rooted in Christ; they do not earn his love. As we become secure in him, we grow more patient, truthful, forgiving and generous.

Why does God want me to hear this today? Perhaps I feel that I should be further along, or doubt that real change is possible. Paul directs me to ask God for strength, return to Christ’s love and keep growing with his people. I do not need to exhaust that love; I can ask the Spirit to help me grasp more of it and take the next faithful step.

Reflect

• Where do you need the Spirit’s strength to trust Jesus and follow his loving rule?
• What truth about Christ’s love do you need to remember when you feel discouraged or uncertain?
• How could another Christian help you grow, and how might you encourage them in return?

Action

For the next month, set aside time once a week to pray Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14–21 for yourself and another Christian by name. Ask God to strengthen you both, deepen your grasp of Christ’s love and help you reflect it in your relationships.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank you for your immeasurable love for us in Christ. By your Spirit, strengthen our faith and help us to trust Jesus in every part of life. Root us in his love, make us more like him, and teach us to encourage one another as we grow. May you receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, now and for ever. Amen.