Week 9, Day 1: Walk in Love
Today’s Reading: Philippians 1:1-2:30
Some thoughts from Friday’s reading…
In Ephesians 5:2, the apostle Paul tells us that we are to “walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us…” When we consider how we might “walk in love” we should consider the example of Christ. He was willing to sacrifice all for the purpose of serving the Father and providing a way of salvation for us. Are we willing to do the same?
The context continues to show us the need to give up sin in our lives. If we are “walking in love”, we should be willing to give up anything and everything that will keep us from the kingdom of Heaven. Paul lists for us several sins that are tempting for many people. The list, found in verses 3-4, includes fornication, all uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, and coarse jesting. Paul says that these things should not even be named among you! Paul’s strong warning should tell us how serious the threat of these temptations are. But, we must stand on guard against them, not allowing them in our lives at all.
Paul shows us through the following verses that it is our goal to “walk as children of light.” Walking in the light is a description of what our general manner of life is. Certain characteristics will develop if we are truly walking the way that we should walk. Some that Paul discusses in this context are goodness, righteousness, and truth (Ephesians 5:9). Paul drives home the point by telling us that we are not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. How often do we stumble into sin because we have chosen to associate with the wrong people, and allow them to have unnecessary influence on our lives? When we have fellowship with the “unfruitful works of darkness” we start down a path of walking in darkness, rather in the light. That is where we were once, but the path that we were supposed to have left (Ephesians 5:8).
In Ephesians 5:15-16, Paul tells us to “walk circumspectly”, which means carefully. We can never be warned enough to be careful as we go into the world around us. The temptations are everywhere around us, and we must make the choice to walk in the light, to walk in love. May we keep the warnings of Paul in the front of our minds, so that we can make the right choices every day. Only by doing this every day will we develop a manner of life, the way that we “walk.”
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