Ephesians : The Importance Of Love

Ephesians 3:14-21 “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with the power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in

reading. He says “Reading those books opened up my world; they put me in touch with a me I

The book of Ephesians is one of Paul’s many New Testament letters, or epistles, to the Christian church still in its infancy. At the time of its writing, Paul is in Rome, imprisoned for championing the purposes of Christ and growing the church. We see numerous occurrences where Paul, being a man of little concern for the status quo, is either imprisoned or fleeing capture by Jewish or Roman officials for usurping the latter (Acts 19: 23-41). The date of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is dated 60-61A.D., depending on differing research. While this is certainly one of his epistles known as the “prison letters”, Ephesians was penned prior to Paul’s first roman

Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer—By this time, having arrived to man’s estate, and hearing the scriptures commented on at meetings, I was struck with that particular passage which says: “Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you.” I reflected much on this passage, and prayed daily for light on this subject—As I was praying one day at my plough, the spirit spoke to me, saying, “Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you. (Gray 9)

that anyone can look forward to eternal happiness with God. Henceforth, a newly transformed Alfred

Other authors after Homer also use reverence for a god’s domain as a tool to gain attention from the gods. In the Fragments, the author, Sappho, uses this tool to gain attention from the gods for herself. Sappho is a lover of love and her work shows her obsession with love as most of her partially retained and transcribed lyrics focus on love and its different forms. In supplication to the goddess Aphrodite, Sappho writes, “Deathless Aphrodite of the spangled mind… I beg you do not break with hard pains, O lady, my heart” (The Fragments, pg.3). Due to the fact that love is Aphrodite’s domain, Aphrodite pays attention to Sappho – someone who personifies and respects the power of love. Subsequently, after Sappho’s supplication, Aphrodite asks, “Whom should I persuade (now again) to lead you back into her love? Who, O Sappho, is wronging you?” (The fragments, pg.3). The use of the phrase ‘now again’ indicates that Aphrodite not only pays attention to Sappho, but that Aphrodite helps Sappho in issues of love repeatedly. Out of context, the phrase ‘now again’ also denotes and exasperated tone, however, the preceding context states that Aphrodite greeted Sappho smiling – a symbol of pleasure with another. Additionally, Sappho gains the attention of Hera because of her mention and praise of marriage in lyric 44, motherly love in lyric 132 and the praise of women throughout - all powers that lie under Hera’s domain. Recently in a newly discovered and transcribed lyric, Sappho says,

Throughout human history, our ancestors lived out the Christian faith in their generation. As a result, the faith passed down into their children’s generations, continuously reaching today’s generation. Then, our society changed from a primitive society to a modern society. With the invention of technology, it creates a new direction towards spreading the Gospel. While our ancestors spoke and wrote Gospel in church, my generation use technology to share the Gospel on social media and Bible apps. With the different styles of preaching the Gospel, how can we unite our generations to pursuit God’s purpose?

God has blessed each of us with our own set of gifts. These gifts, ultimately for his glory, exist to help us help others in some fashion. In week two of this course, an assignment to assess and discuss our own gifts was completed. In order to fulfill the assignment an assessment was completed. According to the assessment, my gifts are craftsmanship, exhortation, helps, encouragement, giving, and wisdom. Each gifts holds a purpose and connects to other similar gifts.

of the human mind to a new influx of light and power; he believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy.

humility. He had no desire for material possessions, or even a very strong desire for

The Phaedrus is a dialogue written by Plato about love and its effects on the soul. Briefly he writes about the mortality of written works explaining that they lose their immortality as soon as they are written. Through reading the Phaedrus and coming to my own conclusion and then comparing Plato’s conclusion and my own, I discovered that Plato is right, words are not immortal without their authors to explain them or support them and that we will always wonder at the meaning of their work without them to explain it.

Alongside a dirty creek, I found that the water breathed in my lungs and I did not mind it. Almost a serenity, to those who have yet to know, it was a starkling contrast to the manifestation of gloom that tattered at what the Lord gave to me not too long ago. With the branches of orchard trees blurred and the faint hum of hummingbirds, I thought, the time to cut the rope would soon fall. This rope that was laced with tar from those before who left nothing but more holes to bore in memories that should've been galore with joy. Ah, this rope that grew too tight had me plea to the Lord to clean and sew it again. Oh, how else must I prosper? Lord, hear me and grant my wish. Yet, the rope remained untouched. With a rock

So many conversations I have had where it ends with, turn over a new leaf

Believers have been unified in salvation by grace and are called to live like Christ.

In my passage Ephesian 1:15-23, this is Pauls prayer to Jesus of giving thanks, God has given us so much, and when God gives us a lot our perception can be changed based on how much we get from God, but we are blind because we can never be satisfied so we ask for more. We can build a wall of ungratefulness and never see the “light of God”.