LIKE FATHER LIKE CHILD
EPHESIANS 5:1-2 NKJV
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 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.
There's an old adage - the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. It is fairly easy to observe traits that run in families. And it can be challenging seeing some of the negatives in our children that are present in our own lives.
There is truth in the saying that more is caught than taught. We tend to pick up things from our environment.
Here Paul is encouraging the church at Ephesus to become imitators of God just as children imitate their parents.
There are ways to look at this directive. But the context here is a continuation from chapter four, verse 32. Be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. Forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you.
So one way we imitate our Heavenly Father is by forgiving others. And forgiving without them earning our forgiveness. Keep in mind that because we are forgiven, we forgive. Our Father is not asking that we do something He did not do.
And Paul is not done giving directives as to how we are to act. In the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul focuses on who we are in Christ. And what Jesus has done for us. The emphasis is on who we are and what we have because of our relationship with Christ.
The next three chapters delve into how we are to live. And a big part of our walk with God is our walk in love.
We are to walk in the selfless kind of love that Jesus displayed while on earth. This love was Jesus' new commandment before He left the earth. (John 13:34-35)
Jesus said this love would mark us as His disciples. This love would be a sign to the world.
APPLICATION:
So these instructions should keep us busy. Forgiving and walking in love.
The good news is that God would not require of us anything we do not have the ability to do. We can forgive even as He forgave. We can love even as Christ loved us. It's a tall order but entirely possible.
PRAYER:
Lord, show me how I can grow in these two areas.