Today’s Scripture: Ephesians 5:2, NKJV- “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
We must imitate God as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:1, “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” (NKJV) We can only imitate because we do not have the ability, in our nature, to love as God loves. The Good News is that Jesus came to teach us the love of God.
Ephesians 4:25 instructs us to put off falsehood and speak truthfully to our neighbors. The King James version is blunter, we must put away lying. If we speak as if we have no blemishes and have everything figured out, we are lying.
Even though we do our best to “put on the new self” as stated in Ephesians 4:24 and we can change our attitudes in the spirit of our minds as we are encouraged in Ephesians 4:23, we must turn to God, His Son, and the Spirit of God. This is not to be understood but imitated. In fact Paul stated in Ephesians 4:17 we must no longer live in the futility of our thinking.
We do not have all the answers, but we do have THE answer. Christ is the answer. The more we mature in our faith, the more we understand we do not understand. However, we do grow and mature to trust God and become willing to receive the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
As we say in recovery, we must become sick and tired of being sick and tired. It is at this point, at our bottoms, what we are willing to give up our old selves and welcome the love and care of God because we accept that we are powerless to change on our own.
In Ephesians 3:4 Paul said he wrote so we may be able to understand his insight into the mystery of Christ. The mystery was a revelation from God of the grace and love we receive in Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:22 says we are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. God takes all of us broken people, renewed by His Spirit, to build His body and His temple, one broken human at a time.
The mortar that holds all the pieces of God’s body and temple together, starting with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone, is the love of God. God’s love is beyond a love we can create but one we may imitate. In Ephesians 2:11 Paul was writing to those who were “Gentiles by birth.” (NIV)
We often hear about the justifications of being born in a certain way. God created us to recognize that we were born for His way. Paul did not write to change the Gentiles. He came to them to let them know the Good News that there was a Gospel far beyond the flesh available to them.
As Ephesians 2:10 promised “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (NIV) Part of the mystery of God is that we humans seem to be the last to know what God has prepared in advance for each of us. I know that when I admitted I was an alcoholic, I felt like my confession was a new revelation. However, by the reaction of the family and friends I concluded that I was the last to know. I am thankful they loved me until God prepared me. I have learned not to trust my understanding but to trust in the love of God. I can only imitate and offer God’s love to others, will you?
Today’s Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for making us Your handiwork. Help us to imitate Your love and the life of Jesus Christ. We welcome Your Spirit, so we live the lives You have prepared for us. Guide us to live so others may know the mystery of Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ we do pray. Amen.
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