Because You Are His Dear Children

Be imitators of God, as beloved children . . . for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:1, 8 ESV

WE WANT OUR CHILDREN to do certain things in a certain way because of the way we do things in our family. It’s just part of who we are and who we expect them to be. Likewise, there is a way we should live that is consistent with being a child of God. If we are truly his child, it simply doesn’t make any sense to live in any other way.

In Ephesians 5, Paul called the Ephesian Christians to be who they really were —not who they used to be before they took hold of Christ by faith and his Spirit came to dwell in them. They used to be darkness, and then they were light. It’s not just that they lived in darkness or liked darkness; they were darkness. Darkness was at the core of their identity. But now, they were light. The light of Christ had become the core of their identity. Christ was at the operating center of their lives. Paul wanted them to live out this new identity rather than live in the incongruity and misery of claiming to belong to Christ while living for themselves.

If we are still darkness, the deeds of darkness will feel perfectly natural. There will be no sense of incongruity. But if we are truly light, doing what darkness does may be exciting for a moment, but ultimately it will feel very wrong. Though it may take some time to turn, there will be a sense of I must stop living this way.

It is this family identity that we want our children to operate from far more than our biological family identity. A settled sense of identity in Christ will mean that instead of setting out to please themselves, our children will want to please the Lord. Instead of taking part in things people of the darkness do, they will see clearly where those things lead. Instead of living the life of a fool, they will live according to the wisdom of God. Instead of filling themselves up with too much wine, they will be filled with the Spirit.

Lord, we know that you are out to make us, and to make ________, a completely new person from the inside out. So, Lord, when ________ participates in what belongs to darkness, make ________ miserable. And make the light beautiful and inviting. Overcome ________’s bent toward finding identity anywhere else than in being your child.