Is God answering Paul’s prayer for you? Are you becoming more confident about God’s loving nature? Do you see yourself as God sees you, as His dearly loved child? Then you have the motivation to live a life of love!
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:1-2). M
How well that sums up your new life in God’s family:
- There are the models: The Father and the Son who love so supremely!
- There is the method: Imitate that divine love!
- There is the motivation: Love because you know the blessings of being loved so deeply! In Ephesians 5:1, the word “therefore” points back to Ephesians 4:32, the glorious truth that God forgave you in Christ. John agrees, “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
- There is the means: You are dear children of God. You are not an orphan,11 struggling alone. You have a family. More than that, you have a Father, the Almighty Creator who empowers you to become like Him.12
- There is the mandate: “Live a life of love!” Paul sets love as the central target for which we aim in Christian living. “The goal” of Christian teaching “is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5).
- There is the measure, the fullness for which to aim: Strive to love “just as” Christ loved, so completely, so selflessly, so sacrificially!
12. Colossians 3:10 with Ephesians 4:24; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 2:13