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The Daily Devotional
Thursday, August 20, 2026
When Knowing Christ Becomes Loving Christ
“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 width 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.” — Ephesians 3:17–19
Reflection
Paul’s prayer in Ephesians reaches beyond information. He is not simply asking that believers learn more facts about God, understand more doctrine, or become better able to explain their faith. He prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith and that they may become “rooted and grounded in love.” Then he gives us one of the most beautiful paradoxes in Scripture: that we may “know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge.”
How can we know something that surpasses knowledge?
Perhaps Paul is reminding us that there are some truths we can understand with the mind but never fully contain within it. The love of Christ can be studied, proclaimed, explained, and defended, but it can never be exhausted. We can spend a lifetime learning about the love of Jesus and still stand before it in wonder.
August 20 offers an interesting historical reminder of this distinction. On this day in 1153, Bernard of Clairvaux died. Bernard was a Cistercian monk, theologian, preacher, and mystic, remembered in the Episcopal Church as a “Monastic and Theologian.” Yet for Bernard, theology was never intended to remain merely an intellectual exercise. His writings repeatedly turned toward love—particularly the soul’s growing love for Christ.
Bernard knew theology, but he also understood that knowing about Christ is not quite the same thing as knowing Christ.
We understand this difference in ordinary relationships.
Imagine someone who has spent years studying the life of a famous musician. They know where the musician was born, every album recorded, every concert tour, every award received, perhaps even what kind of guitar was played on a particular recording. They have photographs, biographies, interviews, and shelves filled with memorabilia.
They may know more facts about that musician than almost anyone.
Yet they have never sat across a table from that person. They have never heard their name spoken in friendship, shared a meal, carried a burden together, or experienced the give-and-take of a real relationship.
They know much about the person without truly knowing the person.
Something similar can happen in the Christian life.
We can learn biblical vocabulary, memorize Scripture, study theology, understand church history, compare interpretations, discuss doctrine, and defend our convictions. None of those things are wrong. In fact, they can be wonderful gifts. Christianity does not ask us to turn off our minds. Careful study can deepen our faith by helping us understand more clearly who God is and what God has done.
The danger appears when knowledge becomes the destination rather than the doorway.
We may become more concerned about being correct than being transformed. Winning an argument may become more important than loving the person standing before us. We can become skilled at explaining grace while becoming increasingly impatient with those who need it.
That is why Paul’s prayer is so important. He does not pray merely that believers will know more. He prays that they will be rooted and grounded in love.
The question, then, is not simply, “How much do I know about Jesus?”
A deeper question is, “Is what I know about Jesus teaching me to love him more?”
Has studying Scripture made me more compassionate?
Has learning about Christ made me more willing to trust him when life becomes uncertain?
Has theological understanding made me more patient with people who see things differently?
Does what I believe about Jesus increasingly shape the way I speak to difficult people, forgive those who have hurt me, notice those who are overlooked, respond to suffering, and serve those who can do nothing for me in return?
And perhaps most deeply: Am I merely learning about the love of Christ, or am I allowing myself to be loved by Christ?
Paul says that Christ’s love “surpasses knowledge” because it cannot finally be reduced to definitions. Christ’s love must be received. It must be trusted. It must be lived within.
We can explain forgiveness, but there comes a moment when we must forgive.
We can study mercy, but eventually we must show mercy.
We can define grace, but sooner or later we must depend upon it.
We can write volumes about the love of Christ, but ultimately we are invited to rest in that love and allow it to change us.
Today, take one truth you already know about Jesus and turn that knowledge into a response.
If you know that Christ is merciful, show mercy.
If you know that Christ forgives, forgive someone.
If you know that Christ welcomes the lonely, notice someone who feels forgotten.
If you know that Christ is faithful, entrust one fear to him.
If you know that Christ loves you, receive that love without trying to earn it.
Perhaps we do not need one more fact about Jesus today as much as we need to live the truth we already know.
The Christian life is not a choice between the mind and the heart. God calls us to love with our whole being. Theology can illuminate the path, but love draws us along it.
And the more deeply we come to know Christ, the more we discover that his love remains wider, longer, higher, and deeper than anything we have yet understood.
We are invited not merely to know about that love, but to dwell within it.
Prayer
Gracious God, deepen both our understanding and our love. Give us minds eager to seek your truth and hearts willing to be transformed by it. Keep our knowledge from becoming pride or mere information, and let Christ dwell more fully within us through faith. Root and ground us in love so that what we believe becomes visible in compassion, humility, obedience, forgiveness, patience, and service. Teach us not merely to know about Jesus, but to know him, trust him, love him, and receive the love that surpasses knowledge. May that love shape the people we are becoming and flow through us into the lives of others. Amen.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible Classic (WEB), a public-domain translation. Original devotional content © 2026 Kenny Sallee, ThM. All rights reserved.
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