This Week’s Passage: Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
So the reason that Paul gives as to why we are to be imitators of God is because of how much we are loved. This takes me back to Ephesians 3:18-19 where Paul is praying that we would be able to grasp just how much we are loved by God. So it would seem that the implications of fully grasping this fact are far reaching – not only will we be “filled to the measure of the fulness of God” but we also be able to imitate God. Probably these go hand in hand. The recurring theme then is the vital importance of “getting it”. Of getting it way down in the depths of our soul that we are inimitably loved So how to we go from knowing that God loves us to KNOWING that God loves us. I’d like to hear your thoughts. Here are a few things that come to my mind….
Pray – This is what Paul was doing in Ephesians 3:18-19. He was praying for his friends that they would fully grasp the incredible depths of the love of Christ for them. And this is where I think we must begin. We must plead with God to enable us by His Spirit to “get it”. The quest to KNOW the love of God begins on our face before the throne of God.
Ponder – By and large God’s people today are not a thinking people. We have become lazy and allowed our pastors or SS teachers or favorite bloggers or google search to do our thinking for us. We MUST beging to think deeply about things – and thinking on how God has loved us through the sacrificial death of His Son is a great place to start.
Practice – In other words, allow God to use you to “live a life of love” – to demonstrate the love of Christ in real and tangible ways to the people around you. The theory is this – the more we put into practice what we know about the love of Christ, the more God will expand our KNOWING. Give it a try. What have you got to lose.
I’m just sayin’!
Next Week’s Passage: Ephesians 5:3-14