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Ephesians 5:1-21

Paul shares with the church of Ephesus what it means to walk in love. There are correct ways to show and share love, but the kind of love Christ has for us is so different than what’s portrayed in society. The only similarity that comes halfway close is the love a parent has for their child, but that still doesn’t do justice to the great magnitude of which God loves us. I believe Paul does a great job of shining light on what God’s love looks like in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Let’s bask in His great love today and for the rest of our lives and strive to live it for others!

In 1 Cor. 13:4-7 words such as patient, kind, not rude, not self-centered, and loves truth are used to describe Christ-Centered love. Every marriage counseling situation usually deals with one of the two within the marriage being self-centered. It may be identified in finances, intimacy, communication, but it’s self-centeredness in those areas.

  1. 1-2- The Love of Christ Will Correct a Self-Consumed Direction

We will walk differently because of the great love He has for us! We will never love him as much as He loves us, but I want to spend my whole life striving to. When my focus is spent on loving Christ, I’ll be a better husband, a better parent, a better pastor, a better friend, a better dancer!

One of my favorite passages is Romans 5:8 because it shows just how we did nothing in order to merit His love. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

  1. 3-14- The Love of Christ Will Conquer Self-Concentrated Desire

Our greatest joy is found when we abide by God’s plan. Physical intimacy was meant for marriage, as a gift for those who follow God’s will. Intimacy is something great, but anytime it’s misused, it derails and distracts you from your purpose of glorifying God! Outside of marriage, it will pull you apart, inside of marriage it will draw you together! Physical intimacy outside of marriage is no longer God glorifying, but self-gratifying. When you engage in this, you are saying, “I want to fuel the flame of my passion for lust, not the passion of God!”

The Greek word for immorality in this passage is Porneia. This is where we get the word pornography and it stands for any and all sexual sin against God and godly love.

(Example of coffee and another item when misused)

1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”

1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.”

Psalm 119:9-11 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

John MacArthur, “Whatever God establishes, Satan will counterfeit. Where God establishes true love, Satan produces counterfeit love.”

  1. 15-21 The Love of Christ Will Change Self-Centered Decisions
Paul refers to some form of being wise in verses 15-17. V-15 “not as unwise but as wise”, v-16 “making the best use of the time”, v-17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” A self-centered love will get you in trouble every time, and anytime, because it lacks wisdom to make Christ-Centered decisions. Let’s define wisdom based on a Christ-Centered love.

Wisdom– The godly application

of knowledge to glorify Christ.
With a relationship with Christ, not only will He wash away your past bad decisions, but He’ll give you the Holy Spirit to change your desire for those future bad decisions.

Your decisions through discipleship and accountability will no longer reflect you, they’ll radiate God!

Be a telescope not a microscope! A telescope shows something that is extremely big and glorious, but makes it where all can see because it’s far away. A microscope takes something small and tries to make it big. My Jesus is not small, my God is big, mighty, and able to redirect our hearts toward Him, in change making us better at loving others! It’s not easy! It takes the power of Christ, within the people of Christ moving forward for the purpose of Christ!

Romans 8:5-11 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

CS Lewis says, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Our greatest joy can only be found in the love of Christ in which we in turn show and share that with the rest of the world!

“If we empty our hearts of self, God will fill them with His love.”

CH Spurgeon