I know I have heard Ephesians 5 quoted many times in my life. I often find myself thinking of the old cliché, what would Jesus do? In 2106, someone made another bracelet with the answer to that faithful question, “He Would Love First.” Of course I am not just interested in bumper sticker or bracelet theology. While a good reminder, lets look at what scripture actually says. Hence, we find ourselves back in Ephesians 5:1-2.

At first glance, it seems like a rather easy piece of scripture to follow, until we do some investigating. Remember, chapters and verses were not in the original text. Ephesians 5:1-2 is actually the end of a thought from the previous chapter. (Rule #1 for reading scripture: Context always determines meaning) If we go back and look at the previous paragraphs from chapter 4, we will find the answer to our current question, “What Would Jesus do?” Now, the answer is not easy and it requires multiple steps of action. So let’s run those down together.

Walk in Love…sacrifice the old self

Walking in love sometimes requires more than we want to give. Jesus gave himself up for us. But I know what you’re thinking. If I sacrifice myself, my life won’t cover other people’s sin. And you would be correct. However, we can do what scripture is suggesting and sacrifice our sin nature. Putting off the old self and walking in the new self is easier said than done. I have my own cliché that goes “Today has never been about you. Never was, never will. Today has always been about how Jesus wants to use you to share the gospel with others.” So, we put to death the old self and all of its sinful desires. Our desire should be to walk in the new self. Paul would write in Romans that the transformation process starts in the mind. In simple words, you have to be in God’s truth (the word aka the Bible). Getting to know who God is and seeing his heart’s desires begins to change our own desires. No longer do we give into the evil desires of our own heart, but we find more pleasure fulfilling the desires of God’s heart.

Second, Paul advises to rid yourself of unwholesome talk. Slander, malice, anger, bitterness…all these things can lead us to using words that do not edify or encourage others. James writes that the tongue is one of the smallest parts of the body, but it can also do the most damage if we do not learn to control it. Many times, some of the most painful events that happen in life are due to hurtful words that we throw around at each other like daggers. It’s really hard to recover from a wound, but its possible.

Third, be kind and compassionate to others. At my church, we have this huge sign on the wall that says loving God is loving people and loving people is loving God. It is simple, but effective. John 13 tells us about a time Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. In the gospels of Matthew and Mark, scripture tells us that Jesus didn’t come to be served, but to serve. I hope we all know Jesus didn’t have his own agenda. He came to do what his Father asked him to do. We are asked to do the same. God, our father, asks us to be on his agenda. But the reality is most of us hope that God fits into our agenda. Serving others is probably not top priority on our list, but isn’t that was God is asking? IF we serve God, we will find ourselves serving others in his Name.