Living a Life of Love (Part 2)

I was so excited when I read Farrell’s post yesterday because it reminded me of a verse that I’ve had on my heart lately.

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

How do we live a life of love? I think this verse suggests 3 really good ways to start:

-Be imitators of God: Certainly a tall order! Cultivating characteristics such as patience, compassion, justice, mercy, love, holiness/purity, wisdom, faithfulness, and goodness in our lives is no easy task – yet this is what God calls us to do.

-Love others and give ourselves up for them: Not only are we called to love and care for others, but we’re called to do so to the point that we are giving up our time, resources, and other aspects of self. While it’s easy for me to love others on my terms (for instance, baking cookies for people when I want to bake), it’s so much harder to love and serve others when it means compromising my own wants and plans.

-Give ourselves as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God: Just as Christ surrendered his own wants to God when he died on the cross, we are called to surrender our desires to God’s will. This is often one of my least favorite things to do – it’s hard for me to surrender my ideal future that I’ve carefully crafted in my mind and other deep, personal desires! Surrendering to God’s plan glorifies Him, just as a fragrant offering does; focusing on this awesome fact makes submitting to God a little bit easier. To live a life of love, we must show God we love Him by surrendering our will to His.

These are some big things God asks of us! How on earth are we supposed to do this? As dearly loved children. I absolutely love this image. God doesn’t give us these huge commands and leave us by ourselves to live this life of love; rather, he understands our imperfect nature and teaches us how to love just as a parent teaches his beloved child how to walk. It’s just absolutely amazing!

So to summarize: living a life of love means trying to imitate God, love and serve others, and submit ourselves to God, knowing that we are sustained in this process by His grace! My challenge for you (and for me!) is to pick one of the three things and really focusing on living it out today.