THE INNER MAN

“that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,” Ephesians 3:16

“You can look strong and still be one bad week away from falling apart. God is after the strength no one can fake.” — PG

There is a kind of strength people admire on the outside. The polished kind. The practiced kind. The kind that knows how to smile in public and panic in private. The danger with outside strength is simple. It can look solid and still be hollow. Someone can appear confident while quietly collapsing. Calm on the surface. Exhausted in the soul.

We confuse anger with strength. Personality with strength. Confidence with strength. If you talk loud enough or post enough motivational quotes, people assume you’re good. We build the outside and neglect the inside. Abs, biceps, triceps, and lats will not help you when life hits you in the soul. Makeup does not cover everything going on underneath. Sorry to all my Mary Kay reps, but that foundation has a limit. Paul understood this deeply.

He writes Ephesians from a Roman prison, chained yet overflowing with revelation about the glory and power of God. The believers in Ephesus are surrounded by idolatry, sexual immorality, the occult, and intense spiritual warfare centered around the worship of Artemis. Following Jesus has placed pressure on their faith and strain on their endurance. Paul reminds them that strength is not found in surroundings but in spiritual position. His body is confined, but his inner man is strong, and that is the kind of strength he prays over them.

Strength is not earned. It is given. God supplies what you cannot generate. Strength for the inner man does not come from talent, personality, or willpower. God grants what life demands. The outer man drains strength. God gives strength. He increases what you lack. He does not wait for you to be strong. He fills your weakness with His strength. Grace does not just save you. Grace strengthens you. A phone with every app but no charge is still useless. Looks great. Does nothing.

Paul is precise with his language. God does not give out of His riches. He gives according to His riches. He strengthens you by His scale, not yours. Heaven does not hand out samples. Heaven gives in abundance. If the source is glory, the supply is endless. A billionaire does not give according to what you need. He gives according to what he has. That is why glory matters. It determines the depth of your strength.

Outer strength impresses people. Inner strength sustains you. Flesh can lift weights. Only the Spirit lifts burdens. You cannot walk in Spirit strength if you keep feeding flesh weakness. What is born of the flesh is flesh. What is born of the Spirit is spirit. Spirit strength requires Spirit identity.

Here is a sobering truth. I am not afraid of the devil. I am afraid of me. You cannot resist the flesh and win. It must be crucified. You cannot crucify the devil. You can crucify the flesh. The secret to victory is not trying harder. It is walking deeper in the Spirit. The Spirit kills what the flesh cannot control.

Practice the presence of the Lord. Daily encounters, not just Sunday ones. Spirit engines do not run on flesh fuel. You cannot fill up on worship once a week and wonder why you stall out by Wednesday. That’s not spiritual warfare. That’s poor maintenance.

The inner man is what sustains you when the outer man collapses. When sickness hits. When burnout sets in. When fear whispers. When grief crashes in waves. God is rebuilding you where people cannot see. Inner strength produces endurance when life drains you, peace when pressure rises, discernment when confusion increases, courage when fear pushes, stability when others panic, and joy circumstances cannot steal.

The anthem of a strong inner man is simple. Still I rise. When you lose a battle, still I rise. When you fail, still I rise. When you feel empty and burned out, still I rise. When depression pulls you down, still I rise. When grief overwhelms you, still I rise.

A. W. Tozer said, “The spiritual man looks at everything from God’s point of view.” That perspective changes everything.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Strength is not found in yourself, but in leaning hard on God.” That line exposes why so many believers feel exhausted. They are carrying what they were never meant to hold alone.

Paul closes Ephesians 3 with one of the most powerful prayers in Scripture. It is the prayer of a man who knows believers will face storms, pressure, tragedy, and warfare. But he also knows the secret. If the inner man is strong, nothing on the outside can defeat you. When you are rooted and grounded in love, you are positioned to experience the width, length, depth, and height of God’s love. Most people settle for one dimension and then wonder why relationships feel empty.

When layoffs come, still I rise. When the doctor brings news you never wanted, still I rise. When marriage feels fragile, still I rise. When anxiety tightens its grip at night, still I rise. When temptation resurfaces right as you start growing, still I rise. When pressure mounts and burnout feels close, still I rise.

This is your strength. This is your supply. This is your inner man. Strength on the inside until the outside no longer controls you.

Live This Out Loud
Pay attention to what you are feeding daily. The inner man grows where intake is intentional.

Slow down long enough to practice the presence of God. Strength is often restored in stillness, not hustle.

When pressure rises, remind yourself where your strength actually comes from. Not your effort. His Spirit.

My Prayer
Holy Spirit, I come to You in the name of Jesus, and I ask You to strengthen the inner man. Where life has drained us, refill us. Where pressure has weakened us, rebuild us. Teach us to draw from Your glory, not our own effort. Let our strength come from Your Spirit so that no storm on the outside can defeat what You are building on the inside.

May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you as He has promised you. — Deuteronomy 1:11

Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly,
PG