Walking in Love

How many of us like walking? Is walking good for you?

In some parts of Scripture, 'walk' refers to living the Christian life, like Ephesians 5:1-2, which is about Walking in Love. (Notice how v2 says, Walk in love” in the ESV translation. The NIV translates it as, 'Live a life of love'.)

I read somewhere about a young man who told his father that he was going to get married. The father asked, "Are you in love?"  “I am," said the son.  “How do you know you're in love?" asked the father.  He replied, "Last night as I was kissing my girlfriend good-night, her dog bit me and I didn't feel the pain until I got home."

Is that love? I don't know, but what I do know is that in Ephesians 5:1-2 walking in love means to be forgiving and to be giving.

Firstly, walking in love means that we must imitate God and be forgiving. (Do to others as God did to us).

It says:

'Forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. [5:1] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. [5:2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 4:32-5:2 ESV)

Do you see how these verses command us to be forgiving like God is forgiving?

What does it means to be forgiving?

It means if someone hurts or owes us we just let it go instead of paying them back, or operating in that 'you owe me' way (Mt. 18:28)

'Forgiving' in Ephesians 4:32 is a translation of  'χαρίζομαι', from χάρις meaning grace. In other words, we extend grace. Col. 2:13 says that God has 'forgiven (χαρίζομαι) us'. IE. We extend grace as God extended grace to us.

Grace has a lot of meanings, one of them is (according to Leon Morris's commentary on John 1:4) 'that which causes joy or winsomeness or kindness, showing underserved favour.'

I like to sum this up as BE NICE! To forgive people is to be nice to them, even if/when they are nasty to us! When the preacher goes on and on boring... we extend grace. When the worship is too loud, too soft, too long, not any of the songs we know or like... we extend grace. When a visitor sits in your favorite seat...we extend grace. When the youth do things that seem offensive to our culture ... we extend grace. When the coffee is lousy after church .... we extend grace

Secondly, walking in love means that we must imitate Christ on the Cross and be giving. (Live by the principle of the Cross).

The passage says:

"Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2)

This passage tells us two great things about the Cross of Christ.

A.) The Cross is the once-for-all event where salvation was achieved by Jesus. It says that “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

B.) The Cross is also the ruling principle of the Christian life. This verse says that we must imitate and express this kind of Christ on the Cross love. We must “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Oxenham wrote, 'Love ever gives. Forgives, outlives, And ever stands With open hands. And while it lives, It gives, For this is love's prerogative-- To give, and give, and give.’

Thirdly, walking in love means that we express (out to others) what we experience (from God).

I read something by a doctor that said that 'the more love a baby gets from his mother, the more he is capable of giving love.'

The truth is that we can only express what we experience. That's what Ephesians 5:1-2 is saying:

'Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children (of God). [2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.' (ESV)

These verses are saying that it's only as we experience being loved by God, our Father; being 'beloved' (or dearly loved) children of God, that we can we express love to others.

Note too that this experience of God’s Fatherly love is a corporate thing. The verse speaks of “beloved CHILDREN”, Not just as one child alone. It may be that God’s love flows best in His family, as against each individual always just alone with God.

So, to 'walk in love', look again at God’s forgiving love, look again at Christ’s giving love, and receive again God’s Fatherly love for His children.

Let me feel again the warmth of Your love, O Father God, that I may learn again to 'walk in love'. Amen.