Ephesians 3:16-19 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

How do you comprehend anything? You see it, hear it, taste it or touch it. As such your ability to comprehend the love of God is born of experience. Our first experience might well be the awareness of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made to atone for our sins. That would be a mental awareness, the power of reasoning to achieve a desired condition which will change your circumstances. Being saved is a powerful motivation.

Being saved from the penalty of sin is only one expression. How about being saved from the power of sin? Have you experienced any power over sin, so that it no longer controls your life? Our comprehension of God’s love towards us means that His expression of that love continues every day and in every way in order for us to experience all that God’s love is and can be in this new life in Christ.

Look to the opening line above. We have a grant from God. A grant does not need to be bought nor repaid. He does so by His abundant glory expressed in the life of Jesus Christ. Glory is the essence of who God is and in these later days expressed through Christ. The purpose is then stated, to strengthen us by the power of His might. We do not have the power to express this great agapao love on our own. We have not yet fully experienced this great love. The inner man is strengthened by this love. The next expression indicates how. Our hearts have been rooted and grounded by the love of God, the agape.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

The Greek word for love here is agapao. It is a call for us to love God. It is a verb. Verbs are action words. The word itself cannot be separated from how it acts. The corresponding actions are not distinguished by the act but by the author of the act.

How can we distinguish one expression of love from another? Psychology Today calls out seven different names for love. Each one is distinguishable in use because the author of the act is human. Those expressions are conditioned upon human interaction. Nothing listed entails acts towards God.

Matthew 22:37 calls for us to act in a manner towards God that expresses our love for God in three areas of life. The heart, mind and soul are asked to act in a manner which reflects an all-in condition. Nothing is to be withheld.

The human condition has expressed itself in a manner that tells us that we are not experienced in giving our all. We begin life as selfish babies incapable of caring for ourselves. We grow up with desires that drive our actions in seeking self-satisfaction. We are taught to compete, to succeed, to advance and the driving force behind most of those action is based on our desires.

“The Spirit of revelation has used it (agape) to express ideas previously unknown, inquiry into its use, whether in Greek literature or in the Septuagint, throws but little light upon its distinctive meaning in the NT.” Vine’s quote

Now that we have the indwelling Holy Spirit some expressions of love are acts performed by the Holy Spirit. Which ones are authored by us? How can we comprehend that agape love?