Grounded In Love

Ephesians 3:14-21

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

While meditating on the love of God, I turned to this passage in Ephesians and began to read this prayer that Paul was praying over the people of Ephesus.  As I was reading this passage, one phrase stuck out to me.  In verse 17 it says, “that you, being rooted and grounded in love.”

I began to think about being grounded.  What does it mean to be grounded?  Of course, the first thing I thought of was being grounded as a teenager.  I wasn’t grounded much growing up.  I probably should have been grounded a whole lot more than I was.  However, I do remember a time in 8th grade that I was grounded from “the event” of the year.  At that time, Alma and Van Buren were huge sporting rivals.  Hundreds of kids, teens, adults would flock to the Alma/Van Buren football game to root their team on to victory.  Everyone wanted the “bragging rights” for the year.  I was so looking forward to going to the game, however I had a problem with my mouth….as most teenagers do.  I never knew how to stop when it came to back-talking my parents.  Needless to say, a few days before the big game, I back-talked my dad, and he grounded me from the game! I was devastated.  Like I said, I was rarely grounded, and now here I am grounded from “the event” of the year.  I was so upset.  I remember sitting on my bed the night before the game just stewing.  My dad, who was known to be very soft-hearted when it came to his children, came into my room to talk.  Without thinking, and without allowing him to speak, I spouted off and back-talked him again.  Little did I know, my dad was coming in to change my punishment and allow me to go to the game. However, after back-talking the second time, my grounding remained. Boy did I learn my lesson.  It was hard listening to the game on my little radio in my bedroom, knowing all my friends were at the game having a great time.  I learned on that day what it truly meant to be “grounded.”  It meant you don’t go ANYWHERE. It meant you stay put. 

In Ephesians 3, Paul makes it apparent that we are to be rooted AND grounded in love.  We need to be rooted in the fact that God so loved us that He gave His only begotten son for us.  Our beliefs, our faith, and our expectations come from this knowledge.  If God loved us so much that He would give His only son to us, what wouldn’t He give to us!  When we are rooted in this fact, our spirits grow, and we can become “grounded in love.”  It is only in the revelation of God’s love for us, that we are able to be “grounded in love” with others.  In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul wrote a comprehensible list of what love truly is.  Love is kind, love is patient, love bears all things, love believes the best of all people.  When we are rooted in God’s love for us, we stay put.  We stay put in our love when people wrong us.   We stay put in our love when people hurt us.  We don’t behave rudely or self-seeking.  Love suffers long and is kind.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.  Love never fails.  When we are rooted in God’s love for us, we can be grounded in our love for others!