Ephesians 5:1-10
Verse 2 …and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Having talked about the way unrighteousness can so easily take over our thinking and corrupt our lives and the lives of those around us, we need to look at the flip side of the coin. What positives can we learn about wearing our breastplate of righteousness? First, we learn we are identified as children of light. Secondly, living this life of righteousness and light gives us the responsibility of living lives of love and thanksgiving.
Jesus Identified Himself as the Light of the World and so when we acknowledge being children of the light we are saying we are in Christ. As we said the other day His righteousness is our identifying mark. It is this identification of light which should be driving us away from the things which can overshadow our righteousness. Almost like a solar eclipse where the moon comes between earth and the sun blocking the sun from shining on the earth causing temporary darkness, when we dabble in the sins of impurity, we block His light causing darkness to reign in our hearts, at least momentarily.
Verse 2 seems to tell us that to live a life of light is to live a life of love. This love isn’t the romanticized affections of modern society. Paul’s readers would likely have heard him teach the same kind of love he had described to the people of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 13. The word used for love in this passage is the word “agape” which speaks more about goodwill, benevolence and esteeming than it does adoring. This love wasn’t simply about happy feelings about another, it was about self-sacrificing for other believers.
Sometimes that means sacrificing our status among our friends so we can live a life of purity. We must use the breastplate of righteousness to fight for the Lord against anything which is an enemy to Him and His kingdom. Since part of our responsibilities as Christians are to speaking the truth of the kingdom, we have to protect the purity of our heart. If what we say speaks of what is in our hearts as Jesus said (Matthew 12:33-37), guarding our hearts should be of utmost importance to us. As Christians, we don’t just represent ourselves, when we speak we are speaking under His name. When our speech and actions are known more for their love and thanksgiving, we can know we are representing Him well.
Making It Personal
Would people looking at your life identify you with the Light of the World? What acts of love are you known for? Where do you need to improve on acting in love?
Making It Personal Kids
What does it mean to love selflessly? Do you love others that way? Who could use that kind of love from you today?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for being our perfect example of self-sacrificing love. Teach us to live more like You, convicting us when we don’t. In Jesus’ name, amen.