Walking in love

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; walking in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." Ephesians 5:1

What does it mean to be imitators of God? How do we do this? 

This verse seems to give us a crucial piece of information: "...walk in love..."

When we see this it is easy to think, I walk in love. I tell my wife I love her. I give to charity.

Yes, in some ways you may be walking in love, but you are not fully walking in love until you grasp the depth of what it means to love "just as Christ also loved".

You can be doing wonderful things for people outside of the home and once you step over the threshold, loving the ones you live with seems ten times as hard.

Christ loved. When I say he loved, I mean it killed Him. He brought it all to the table and held nothing back. He "...gave Himself up for us..."

Your family may be hard to love at times, right? Why?

What difference should it make that you live with them? The very fact that you know them gives you the perfect opportunity to love them best. You know their weaknesses and you see their strengths. Just to pray for them every day in a heart of humility would be loving them! You can't wait for someone to change before you start loving them the way you ought, the way you have been commanded to love them by God.

Jesus didn't wait for us to become more holy or more worthy before he started to love us.

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6 and 8.

Would you die for a sinner? Would you lay you life down to save your fellow man?

This is the call to love, brethren. Will you walk in love?

"Greater love has no man than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" John 15:13

I'm not telling you to go out and look for opportunities to die for people, honest. I'm just expressing the extreme side of this "walking in love". Christ commands us to love as he has loved, "This is my  commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." John 15:12

So way does this mean for us? How can we apply it?

Well, I would say a good place to start would be within the walls of your own home. Remember, a family who loves one another is a greater light to the world  than someone who thinks love can be expressed through the mere giving of money or an outward display of charity. To love your family is to sacrifice your time and energy to be with them and pray for them. To love is to commit to be strong through the storms with them. To love is to be honest and grace filled. To love is to be yourself, not what the world says you should be. To love is to lay down desires to help fulfill the dreams of others. To love is to be courageous and truthful. To love is to honor and respect. To love is to put your pride away and act in humility.

Ah... What a picture. If we all took Christ's command to heart and loved to the best of our ability in Christ, this world would be completely turned upside down. People would be changed. The lost wold be found. The hope of the Cross would bleed from our lives lived in the glorious reality of Jesus's sacrifice for us. 

What are we waiting for?! What is keeping us from the beauty of "walking in love"?

Let us strive to attain to our Lord's command to love one another. Let us lay down our lives if we are called to do so. 

Let us walk in love, beloved. Let us walk in love.