Walk in Love

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  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

Since Christ forgave us, be imitators of Him in that way.  Live in love putting others well being before our own as Christ did on the cross.  Be so centered and satisfied in God's love, in the love of the Trinity that all you have left to do is pour out God's love.  Be so free from shame, be so confident you are enough, accepted and adopted that you don't need to play the petty games and partake in petty indulgences to numb the pain and fill the void.

All the sins and vices that Paul admonishes the Ephesians to avoid are all ways to dull the pain of sin and to grasp for significance.  When we find ourselves manipulating people and abusing substances to hustle for a few minutes of peace or a fleeting sense of power or adequacy, we need to ask ourselves what part of God's love do we still not understand.  

Father deliver me from my shame, from not being nearly enough.   Center me so deeply into the truth of my adoption that it frees me from all my addictions and from all the hurtful ways I can use and abuse people.  Help me to love others and give myself up for them as you did.   Show me how to be a true child of the Father.