This week’s devotions are based on Week 3 of Building Together: “Together is Tough!” (WATCH HERE)
Ephesians 5:1 “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love.”
Have you ever watched a little child trying to imitate a parent? A father bends down to pick something up, and suddenly his son is doing the same thing. A mother says a certain phrase, and before long her daughter is repeating it. Children imitate the people they love and look up to.
Paul uses that picture when he tells us to “follow God’s example.” But notice where he begins. He does not say, “Become good enough to be God’s children.” He says, “as dearly loved children.”
That little word “as” is important. We don’t imitate God so that He will love us. We imitate God because He already loves us.
That is the foundation for everything we will talk about this week. Loving other people can be difficult. People disappoint us. They misunderstand us. They have different personalities, opinions, habits, and expectations. Sometimes they hurt us. Sometimes we hurt them. Together is tough.
But before Paul tells us how to live together, he reminds us who we are.
We are dearly loved children of God.
John writes, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1
Notice that John does not say we might become God’s children if we can get our lives together. He says, “That is what we are.”
How can sinful people like us be called God’s children? Because Jesus took our place. He lived the perfect life we could not live. He carried our sins to the cross. He suffered the punishment we deserved. He rose from the grave and gives us forgiveness and life. Through faith in Christ, we have been brought into God’s family.
Think about a child who wakes up each morning knowing that he belongs in his home. He does not have to earn his place at the breakfast table. He does not have to perform well enough to remain part of the family. He belongs because he is loved.
That is who you are in Christ.
You don’t have to spend today trying to prove that you are worthy of God’s love. You are already His dearly loved child. And when that truth settles into your heart, it changes the way you see yourself and the way you see others.
So when someone frustrates you today, remember that you are a dearly loved child of God. And remember that they may be too. The person who is difficult for you to love is someone Christ loved enough to die for.
We love because He first loved us.
Reflect: What difference does it make to you personally that God calls you His dearly loved child? Who is someone you find difficult to love, and how might seeing that person as someone Christ died for change the way you respond?
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, thank You for making me Your child through Jesus. I know that I have not earned Your love and that I often fail to love others as You have loved me. Thank You for sending Jesus to forgive my sins and bring me into Your family. Help me remember today that I am Your dearly loved child. Help me see others through the eyes of Your grace, especially those who are difficult for me to love. Shape my heart by the love of Christ so that I may reflect Your love to the people You place around me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.