Ephesians 5:1-5: a reflection

1Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. 2Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance. 3But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints; 4nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate, but rather giving of thanks. 5Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man (who is an idolater), has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.

Paul gives a soaring calling: be imitators of God, as beloved children. We are to pattern our lives after God himself, and specifically after his love, walking in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. The model for our love is the self-giving of Christ at the cross. To imitate God is, above all, to love sacrificially, pouring ourselves out for others as Christ poured himself out for us.

Against this backdrop of self-giving love, Paul names the things that have no place in the life of God's children: sexual immorality, impurity, and greed, along with coarse and empty talk. These are the opposites of love, ways of using and grasping rather than giving. And in their place he sets a simple, surprising alternative: thanksgiving. Where the old life was marked by grasping and crude speech, the new life is marked by gratitude. A thankful heart has no room for the covetous, using spirit these sins express.

The high call to imitate God's love shapes everything. Ask whether your life is patterned after the self-giving love of Christ or after the grasping, using patterns Paul warns against. And notice the alternative he offers: not merely avoiding wrong but cultivating thanksgiving. A grateful heart, content and giving, crowds out the covetousness that lies beneath so much sin. Walk in love as Christ loved you, and let gratitude fill the space where grasping used to be.

Lord, you call me to imitate you as a beloved child, walking in love as Christ loved me and gave himself up for me. Pattern my life after that self-giving love rather than the grasping and using that mark the old life. And fill me with thanksgiving, a grateful heart that leaves no room for covetousness. Let me love sacrificially and live gratefully, as your child. Amen.