1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV)
How can we best be imitators of God? It is contained in the next sentence, walk in love. But sometimes people in this world do not seem very lovable. But we must take into account the next part of the scripture, “as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us”.
There is a sacrifice to be made when we love the unlovable, when we are friend to the unfriendly. We must make an offering of our love just as Christ did. We may have to sacrifice a bit of ourselves to show others love and this is just how Christ would want it. This is part of picking up our cross daily and living out the sacrifice of our lives for Christ and His greater sacrifice for us.
No, this is not always easy and it can mean that we are sacrificing more than we had expected. But when we give up a bit more, Christ honors our sacrifice. Some may say, but is it worth it? How can we gauge such things that may only be visible to us in heaven. I do believe that every faithful act, every sacrifice, stores up for us rewards in heaven. But this is not why we should want to act like Christ. No, He has already rewarded us in the best possible way through His sacrifice which was forfeit for our sins.
We should want to because it is what He would do and it is how we walk in love.
