HomeLog inTodaySubscriptionVerse LibraryApproachAboutPrivacy中文English
← Back to Library

Ephesians 3:17-19

以弗所书 3:17-19

The Passage

that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ's love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

In the other language

使基督因你们的信,住在你们心里,叫你们的爱心有根有基,能以和众圣徒一同明白基督的爱是何等长阔高深,并知道这爱是过于人所能测度的,便叫神一切所充满的,充满了你们。

Theme

Rooted in love

Bring a question to this passage

Many readers arrive here from a real question. These are reflections for how this passage speaks to the questions people bring most often — not an answer about what will happen, but an invitation to sit with it slowly.

How do I face this season of pressure at work?

Being rooted and grounded in love is the image this passage gives you. It does not offer a plan for managing work pressure; it offers a prayer for Christ to dwell in hearts through faith, and for believers together to know the dimensions of his love. Under strain, you may feel defined by whatever needs doing next. Here, attention moves toward a love larger than what you can fully understand. You do not have to manufacture that understanding alone: the prayer includes all the saints. There is room to receive support rather than carry everything privately. This passage offers no plan for managing pressure. When in your working day could you pause to rest in Christ's love rather than measure yourself only by what you accomplish?

Carry thisChrist's love is larger than what you can comprehend.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

I want to learn to love better in this relationship.

Roots matter in this prayer. Before the passage speaks of comprehending love's breadth and length and height and depth, it speaks of being rooted and grounded in love, with Christ dwelling in your heart through faith. Your desire to love better need not begin with demanding more from yourself. You can first spend time receiving the love this prayer asks its hearers to know. Its dimensions resist making love small, possessive, or limited to what you already understand. Learning happens with others, too, not only through private effort. How might resting in Christ's love change the way you listen to the person you want to love?

Carry thisLearning to love includes receiving love, not only giving.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

What do I need to let go of in the coming weeks?

Rooted and grounded in love is a different posture from being constantly on guard. This prayer asks for Christ to dwell in your heart through faith and for a deeper knowledge of love, shared with others, that exceeds what the mind can contain. It does not specify what you should let go of, but it gives you a place from which to consider the question. You do not have to understand everything before making room for love. Perhaps the strain worth noticing is your insistence on complete explanations, or your habit of keeping every need private. This passage does not specify what you should let go of. Which part of your guardedness might you bring before Christ as you consider being rooted in his love?

Carry thisLove can be your ground without becoming fully understood.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

How can I find stillness in a busy life?

Roots are a quiet image in a passage full of breadth, length, height, and depth. This prayer does not give you a technique for stillness, but it asks that you be rooted and grounded in love. Its focus is not on how much you can accomplish, but on Christ dwelling in your heart through faith and on knowing love that surpasses knowledge. In a busy life, you can give this prayer a little room without demanding a particular feeling from it. Read slowly, allowing the words to remain with you before you move on. Which part of this prayer could you linger with amid your busyness, receiving its invitation to be rooted in Christ's love rather than looking to it for a technique for stillness?

Carry thisChrist's love is more than you can fully explain.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

Have a different question?

Write what you are actually carrying right now, and Lectio will answer it with this passage — Ephesians 3:17-19.

Or walk this passage through the five steps of Lectio →

Ephesians 3 — in context

11according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord;

12in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.

13Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.

14For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

16that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man;

17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

18may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

19and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

21to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

More from Ephesians

Related topics

The Love of God

Begin a Lectio reading

Log in

or use email

Don't have an account? Sign up