The following blog was written by Susan Cady in 2013 and still holds true today. Please keep praying for Susan as she continues to heal and grow in strength after her stay in the hospital.
Learning to love better has been a theme for me this year. The Father is reminding me of it everywhere I turn. Most recently my reminder has come in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
But what does it mean to walk in love? What does this love walk look like in my every day?
The word in the original language for walk in this verse means to conduct one’s daily life. It’s about my moments in the day. It’s about my choices-how will I choose to respond to the daily moments of my life?
What is my reaction when someone cuts me off in traffic? When I have a disagreement with my husband? When a co-worker makes my day tough? What is my response when I am inconvenienced or interrupted from my task at hand? How will I choose to respond?
Walking in love is something I am having to learn to practice. It requires some effort, diligence and forethought on my part. But I am not left alone. The motivation and help is found in the word “beloved”
in verse one of Ephesians. As a Christ- follower, I am the beloved of the Father. He provides all that is needed to walk in love. First and foremost because He IS love:
“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” – Psalm 86:15
“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” – Psalm 36:5
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God.” – 1 John 4:7
And secondly, I have been given the example of Christ to imitate and the gift of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to instruct me. The question I have to continually ask and answer is: How will the fact that I am beloved by the Father motivate my reaction in this moment?
Here are just a few reminders of reality of being beloved of the Father:
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” – 1 John 4:9
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” – Ephesians 2:4-7
And these barely scratch the surface of the depth, breadth, length and height of His love! His Word is resplendent with so many more examples of His love for us. So will you join me by praying through the Scriptures above, asking the Lord to help us learn to walk in love?
