Ephesians 5:1-21

Chapter 5 of Ephesians is just one of 3 chapters that Paul uses to describe the application of the doctrines he stated in chapters 1-3. Here's my insight into verses 1-21 of chapter 5.

As believers, we are commanded to:

Imitate God. We are His children and we must try to be like Him just as a child often tries to be like his earthly father.

Walk in love. Just as Christ has loved us, we must be loving to others, sacrificing ourselves for our neighbors just as Christ sacrificed himself for us.

Not be sexually immoral or impure. Lust can be a difficult thing to control, and the world encouraging it and constantly pushing it in front of us does not help us any in our walk with Christ. We must pray for the Spirit's strength in resisting this sin.

Not to be covetous. We must understand that Christ has loved us and blessed us so much, we don't need anything else to satisfy us - God knows exactly what we need.

Not to speak foolishly, crudely, or filthily, but instead speak with thanksgiving. It is so easy to allow a mean joke or comment to escape our lips without thinking about it. We need to remember to always be thankful for what God has given us and dwell on that instead of insults.

Not to be deceived with empty words. In other words, don't believe everything you hear. Know the Bible well so you can determine when something is said that empty -not grounded in the Scriptures. We must guard our hearts from false, empty teaching because those who believe it have no salvation in God; in fact, His wrath is upon them.

Walk as a child of light, and discern what is God-glorifying. Sort of a continuation of the previous point, this means that since we are no longer in darkness, we must not associate with it, so we need to rather be associated only with things that glorify the Lord.

Expose unfruitful works of darkness. Since all believers still has remaining sin, we must learn to confront our sins directly. Exposing them to the light of Scripture often humbles us to repentance.

Closely examine the way you live to make the best use of the time. Every moment is a precious gift from God - why use them with foolishness or wastefulness? I know I am guilty of this every single day. We need to make every minute count and live each day to its fullest for the glory of God.

Understand the will of God in order to not become foolish. Meditate on the Scriptures and always submit our own will to God's. We are called foolish is we follow our own will and desires.

Not to become drunk. Pretty self-explainatory, I'd say.

Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to other believers with joy and praise to God. Wow, think about what a person would look and act like if he followed this one all the time! I know none of us are as full of the vigor of the Spirit of God as we should be.

Always thank God for everything in Jesus' name. We can never thank God enough for all He's done, but since there's SO much to be thankful for, I know I always feel like I fall short in my thankfulness. Sometimes I forget to thank God for something, and other times I am selfish and am not even thankful for something God has put in my life. It's important to remember to thank God for ALL things.

Submit to one another. This doesn't mean only putting others before yourself, but also humbly accepting and submitting to another believer's counsel and/or discipline.