January 17 2026

Saturday January 17

Walking With God

Ephesians 5:1-2

1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Today we are continuing our study in Ephesians chapter 5. Right at the beginning of this chapter, we are told to “be imitators of God as dear children.” As believers, we are called to put off the old man—to put off bitterness, anger, and wrath—and to stop living the way we lived before we became followers of Jesus Christ. Then Paul gives us this clear admonition: “Walk in love.”

My friend, as I have been thinking about this, I couldn’t help but reflect on the truth that when we walk in love, we are walking with God. Remember in 1 John chapter 4, at least twice—in verse 8 and again in verse 15—the Apostle John tells us that God is love. One of the great attributes of God is that He is love. Everything God does flows out of His love and His goodness, because God is love and God is good.

As we walk in love as imitators of God, as His dear children, we demonstrate to the world around us that we truly belong to Him. People see that difference—not just in what we say, but in the purity of our lives and in the love that is manifested through us. Remember, Scripture tells us to love our enemies and to overcome evil with good. How do we do that? Naturally speaking, when we are offended or hurt—when someone strikes us—the human response is to strike back, to get even, to retaliate. But my friend, it is just the opposite for someone who has experienced the love of God. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

Romans 5:8 tells us: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were still sinners—while we were alienated from Him, ignoring Him, blaspheming His name—Christ loved us. He died for us. While we were being mean to Him, rejecting Him, spitting in His face, and nailing Him to the cross, He loved us. My friend, that is an unfathomable love, an unlimited love, an unselfish love. That is the unconditional love of God, and that is the love God calls us to walk in.

How do we do that? First, we must personally experience that love through Jesus Christ. As we read at the end of Ephesians chapter 4, “forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” Because we have been forgiven, we can forgive others. Years ago, I heard something that helped me greatly. My natural response to offense or hurt has often been to get even—to strike back. I did that as a teenager and as a young person, and even later in life I have had thoughts I shouldn’t have had when I was hurt. But my friend, our response is not based on how we feel—it is based on what we have experienced in Christ.

The love God speaks of here is agape love—God’s love. It is not something we manufacture. God is love, and He has an endless reservoir of love. When I am offended or hurt, when I am tempted to respond in an unchristlike way, I picture reaching into God’s reservoir of love. I don’t give someone my love, because I don’t have it. I give them God’s love. I respond with kindness, forgiveness, and goodness. I have had people tell me that I’m being a hypocrite if I’m being nice and kind to someone when I don’t feel like it. My response is, “No, I’m not being a hypocrite, I am being a Christian.

As Scripture says, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21). There is joy in doing that, because we are abiding in His love. I want to close with these powerful verses in 1 John 4:14-19: “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.”

1 Corinthians 13 tells us that love is not a feeling. It's an action that comes from walking with God in His love. It is His love that we can give to overcomes the evil. Read 1 Corinthians 13 that gives us a description of God’s agape love.  This is God's love that we can have only as we reach into His reservoir of love and give it to someone else.

May God help us to practice this. As Paul points out here in Ephesians 5:2, we are to walk in love. How do you do that? One step at a time, every minute of every day, when you are walking with God, you are walking in His love. And my friend, His love will be manifest through you to a world around us that desperately needs to know that love.

God bless you and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.