Ephesians 5:1-2
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.
I still remember the night that I was sitting in a men’s meeting at church next to my dad and I looked over at him and realized that we were sitting in the exact position – arms crossed, left elbow resting on top of the right arm and left hand placed in front of our faces with the thumb under the chin and the index finger curled just above the lip. Needless to say, it freaked me out and I quickly changed my position! I’m sure there were plenty of other times that I copied my dad before that time in my teens, but that’s the one that really stands out to me.
Now, I’m the dad and I watch my children do things that I’ve done and say things that I’ve said, and sometimes that’s good and sometimes it’s not. But the reality is that children learn from their parents and eventually do the same things without even thinking about it. It just comes naturally. Sure, it’s funny when children dress like us, or pretend to shave like us, or try to walk in our footprints at the beach, but the beauty of this passage is that there is an implied guarantee that the more we’re around our Father, the more naturally we start to do what He does. We will eventually find ourselves like I did in that men’s meeting: unknowingly looking like our heavenly Father. Without even trying, we’ll find ourselves doing the very things He does, and the thing He does best is love.
Start being a friend to someone and see how long it takes for your children to act friendly towards them, too. Open your home to people and watch how easily your children open up to them, too. When we see our Father love, it becomes increasingly easier for us to love as well. We’ll start loving the things He loves, and – even more importantly – we’ll start loving the people He loves.
There’s no better way to end this Evotion than with our passage from The Message. It’s beautifully written, very motivating, and I pray that it moves you the same way it moves me:
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
