The Resurrection Life is a Loving Life

God’s never going to give up on you. No matter if you’ve taken three steps backward, or if your spiritual life is stuck in neutral, God’s not done with you.   He has a goal for your life – to change you and make you more and more like Jesus.  One way we take responsibility in becoming more like Jesus is to stop living our self-centered ways and start putting on the ways of Jesus.

We begin by looking at some of the self-centered ways we are to throw off:

1.Lying:  We now have the Holy Spirit living in us. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. If we continue to lie or deceive we will grieve Him who lives in us.

2. Anger:  Again, if we allow anger to divide our relationships, this goes counter to the work of the Spirit who has brought us into unity with one another. So unresolved anger grieves the Spirit, because it goes against His best work.

3. Stealing:  Continuing to live selfish lives where we take what is not ours simply reveals a heart that is not content or thankful for what God has so graciously given us.

4. Words:  The Holy Spirit is the comforter. He comes alongside to comfort and encourage. To tear down rather than encourage then goes against the very nature of the Spirit within us, and again grieves Him.

If we keep turning away from these destructive ways of living, we can move forward and become a people of grace who walk in love. How do we become people of grace? Again, Paul gives us a contrast. He begins with the badness we are to throw off, then the goodness we are to put on. First, the badness:

1.We put off the ways of malice… Ephesians 4:31 says this: Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

• “bitterness” “this is the attitude that refuses reconciliation” A bitter person lives in a state of perpetual animosity – that makes him harsh and uncharitable in his opinions.
• “rage and anger” This is bottled up contempt for another person that boils within and eventually erupts in outbursts of wrath.
• “brawling” This is the loud self-assertions of angry people determined to make their grievances known.
• “slander” This is speaking evil of others, spreading rumors, especially behind their backs with the intent of defaming or destroying a person’s reputation.
• “malice” This is the evil within that is determined to destroy another person.

All these attitudes are foreign to the community God is creating. That is why we are commanded to get rid of them.

2.  We are to put on the ways of kindness! Kindness is another way of expressing God’s grace to us. It’s the word used by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Luke 6:35 It has the idea of being generous to the one who has hurt you.

3. We are also to be compassionate: to be tenderhearted to the one who has wronged you.  This does not come natural to us. So we must look at Christ’s compassion to us. He was not insensitive toward our plight.  Instead, He saw the sickness of our sin. He saw how it makes us selfish and insecure.  He saw how sin leads us to chose destructive and hurtful paths in our relationships. And so it was His compassion that moved Him to act on your behalf. His compassion moved Him to die in your place so you could be healed by His grace.

4.  We are to walk in love:                                                                                                         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.  Ephesians 5:1-2

How do we walk in love?                                                                                                                                We are to imitate God. Jesus gives us the pattern of love that we get to imitate: The pattern is one of self-sacrifice. The empty way of the world tells us that life is all about self. We are told: “Follow our heart. Do what seems best for you. You deserve a break today. You have rights. You only live once. You, you, you. Me, me, me. Such messages feed a self-centered view of the universe. Such messages tells us we are in charge.  Jesus didn’t think that way, nor did he live this way. He left the riches of heaven and became poor for us. He took your place on the cross to take your punishment. He gave Himself up for us to bring us to God.

This is the way of love: It is putting the needs of others needs ahead of your own needs regardless of the cost or consequences to self.

This is the kind of offering that is a fragrant aroma to God. It pleases Him. Have you ever thought of your life that way?

This is the way of love. When your heart is bent on pleasing God, you will want to love those He loves. And when you love those He loves, you will give yourself up for them, just like Jesus.  And yet, Paul doesn’t stop here.  For us to truly walk in love, we must eradicate the world’s false view of love from our minds.  Therefore,

We must put off the ways of lust! That’s the picture given us now in Ephesians 5:3-5 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.