Walk In The Way Of Love

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Scripture: Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 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.

Devotion:

Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:1–2 are both beautifully simple and profoundly challenging. He begins with identity before he ever speaks of behavior: “as beloved children.” Everything that follows flows from this truth. We imitate God not to earn His love, but because we already have it. We walk in love because we are held in love. The Christian life is never a performance; it is a response.

To “be imitators of God” might sound impossible at first. How can finite, flawed people imitate the holy God? Paul answers by pointing us to Jesus. Christ is the visible expression of God’s character, the perfect model of divine love lived out in human flesh. When we look at Jesus — His compassion, His patience, His humility, His sacrificial love — we see what it means to imitate God.

And then Paul gives the shape of this imitation: “Walk in love.” Not sprint, not dabble, not visit occasionally — walk. Walking is a steady, daily, ordinary movement. It is love expressed in the rhythms of life: in conversations, in decisions, in how we treat those who frustrate us, in how we serve those who need us, in how we forgive those who wound us. Walking in love is not dramatic; it is faithful.

Paul roots this call in the greatest act of love the world has ever known: “as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” The cross is not only the means of our salvation; it is the pattern of our lives. Jesus’ love was costly, self-giving, and purposeful. He did not love us because we were deserving; He loved us because love is who He is. And when we walk in that kind of love, our lives become, as Paul says, “a fragrant offering” — something pleasing to God, something that reflects His heart into the world.

In a culture that often defines love as sentiment or convenience, Paul calls us to something deeper: a love shaped by Christ’s sacrifice, grounded in God’s character, and lived out in the everyday paths we walk.

Prayer:
Lord, thank You that we are Your beloved children. Teach us to imitate You not out of fear or pressure, but out of gratitude and joy. Shape our hearts to walk in the same love Christ showed us — patient, humble, and self-giving. Make our lives a fragrant offering that reflects Your grace to everyone we meet. Amen.

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