Living Vertically: Getting Healthy

by Laura Springer, Th.M., Ph.D.

What does it take for a church to get healthy?

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul helps us answer this question by describing God’s amazing design of the church and the Spirit in carrying out that design. For the next several months, we’ll be looking at what Paul has to say about the work of the Spirit in the church. This month, we look at a prayer located in the middle of the letter:

“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16–19 ESV).

God wants his church to be filled with his fullness. In this prayer, Paul asks God to give the Ephesian believers a superabundant awareness of and trust in the Spirit. This superabundance is also true of us. Let us ask God to strengthen us toward a recognition of his control and care, and our brokenness and misalignment. Let us decide to walk in the Spirit for the Glory of God alone, being his alone.

The Spirit, who dwells in and among us, is the one who fills, strengthening us with power, and deepening our understanding of God’s power and love. As we submit to the Spirit's filling, he strengthens us, giving us the capacity to do God's work and making us fully able to comprehend God's power and love. Seeking ability and understanding outside of God is futile, for God is the true and only source of deep spiritual power. Let us remember and help each other remember that God is the one who loves and strengthens. He alone is our foundation. When we forget this and act on our own, let us repent and rest in his constant care.

As we travel together through this transition, let us pray for clear eyes and voices and commit to living as a community grounded in God's love and living by the Spirit.