Walk in Love

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.  Ephesians 4:31 – 5:4 NLT

We are looking at the five characteristics of the Christian “walk” as Paul defines them in the book of Ephesians: the first was unity in 4:1; the second was purity in 4:15. Here we come to the third, which is love like Christ’s (5:1). (“Live a life filled with love” above.)

I think that if we hear this admonition by itself, we probably think of self-denying love for others, like Jesus demonstrated on the Cross. That is certainly not incorrect, but I want you to see the particular way Paul fleshes that out here. Look at the surrounding context.

What is it to love as Christ loves, day after day? It is to surrender anger, hurt feelings, impatience, and unforgiveness. It is to be generous toward others, thinking the best of them (and not the worst). It is to overlook their failures, especially in regards to us. It is not to take advantage of them to satisfy our own needs, that is, using them to gratify physical, emotional, or spiritual desires. It is, for their sakes (!), to use pleasant, moderate, and clean language. In short, it is to conduct our everyday lives by always keeping the good of others in mind.

Thus, to love is to choose the best for another at whatever cost to yourself. This is the importance of marriage and family. One of the great values of having children is that it provides a wonderful vehicle for learning how to love. But that is one of the reasons why many people do not want to have children: they don’t leave enough time to focus on myself. What Paul says is that we should be thanking God for every opportunity to get the focus off ourselves.