Bible Verse of the Day Saturday January 15th 2022

Ephesians 5:1-2 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.

The word "therefore" in this verse is not closing for what has come before. It is an introduction to what is to come. It is natural for children to imitate their parents, and in the same way, we as children of God should strive to imitate Him (Matthew 5:48; Luke 6:36). Our desire should be to imitate God's graciousness and generosity toward us. We should always make God the example and model for our lives; too many try to compare themselves to other people. The problem with this is that it could create a point where we think we have grown enough. This will lead to self-righteousness because Satan will get us to the place where we believe we are better than other people; hence we do not need any further growth. On the other hand, when we compare ourselves to our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, we will never reach the point that there is no need for development.

This line of thought is somewhat of a continuation of the same concept Paul mentioned in Ephesians 4:13 regarding the extent of Christian growth. We find this same hypothesis in Ephesians 4:32. We must understand that God is more than just an example to us. There can be serious trouble when a church uses Christ Jesus as only an example. We were not saved by the example of Christ but by His shed blood on the Cross of Calvary. God is much more than just our model or pattern, but He is the only standard that we should pattern our lives after. When we focus on imitating God, we will not just keep God in the minds of those who have tried to shut God out, but people will then admit there is a God by seeing His light reflected from us. When we walk in the love as Jesus loves us, the world will know this love of Christ towards them and have a desire to get closer and closer to Jesus themselves.

We love because Christ Jesus first loved us, not because of any self-motivation we think we can muster. Jesus paid the penalty for the sins of all humankind on the Cross of Calvary, and we do not have any right to hold anyone's sin against them (Matthew 18:22; Ephesian 1:7; Colossians 2:13; 1 John 2:12). We show our love to all by willing to extend forgiveness to all people (Luke 7:36-47). To be able to do this, we must understand and accept the immensity of our own sin. The refusal to forgive others is unbelief because we do not see the need to forgive. The one that understands what it took to forgive their sins will joyfully forgive others. Jesus gave Himself as an offering and sacrifice to God; we can offer our lives to others by the same example. This act of love does not have to be laying down our lives in one single dramatic way, but laying down our lives in small increments, day by day, instead of one large payment. This sacrifice follows our savior's example in laying down our lives, as Jesus laid down His life for us.

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