Eph 5:1-2 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.

“Therefore”… In the last verse of chapter 4, we are told to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. As forgiven and beloved children of God, we too are to be imitators of Him. Not as a way to gain right standing before God, but rather, a response to the fact that when we accepted Christ to be our Savior, we are now in a right standing with God. As His children we should look like Him.

I don’t know how many times in my life I have heard, “He looks just like his dad.” Well, the same thing applies with our heavenly Father. Looking like Him means that we are kind to one another, we are tenderhearted and forgiving to one another because we understand the gift of forgiveness that has been given to us through Christ.

Being an imitator of God does not mean that we now become good at keeping a list of good things to do, it means that we walk in the love of Christ, remembering the ultimate sacrifice he made for us at the cross.

The sacrifice Christ made on our behalf, his becoming sin for us, was a fragrant offering to God. For we too are the fragrant offering, or aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. However, to those who reject Christ we are not a sweet aroma at all. We are a reminder of their sin and when one wants to live in sin then the aroma is offensive. But to those who are ready, we are the aroma of life. There is hope and joy abounding from us that can no longer be resisted.

Recently I was speaking to a young man who was caught up in the addiction of alcohol. He was burdened with joblessness and was doing his best to raise his young daughter. After travelling around from place to place, he finally ended up in this particular town and realized that what he was surrounded with was the aroma of death. Many of his friends and family members are also struggling with poverty and addiction and he had become hopeless. While we were talking the Lord opened a door for me to share that the hope he was looking for was not in the form of alcohol, rather it was in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Having family in the faith, he agreed that he needed to walk with Christ, but was so discouraged by his situation that it simply felt impossible.

Being the aroma of Christ is showing people that there is hope in spite of their circumstances. Being the aroma of Christ means that we too die to the ways of this life in order that some around us may come to life in Christ. And the way we do that is by walking in love remembering that the sacrifice we think we are making ultimately becomes a blessing as we see the power of the Holy Spirit transform a life right in front of our eyes.

Lord, help me today to be an imitator of you as I walk in your love and give myself to others as you gave yourself for me. May all I do today be a fragrant offering to you. Amen.