Walking in Love: The GPS of the Christian Life

Introduction

You already know it: what matters most in the Christian life is love. You don't need someone to reveal a brand-new mystery to remind you of that. But you also know how hard it is to live out, day after day, with your spouse, your kids, your neighbors, your brothers and sisters in the church.

In a sermon at the church in Antibes, Pastor Patrick Salafranque opens his Bible to Ephesians 4:32 and 5:1-2, and he offers you a simple, very concrete definition of divine love. Three letters to help you remember it all week: G.P.S. Generosity, Patience, Service. The GPS of the Christian life: the one that leads you onto the right path and toward the right destination.

This article faithfully follows his sermon and invites you to let yourself be guided by that kind of love.

Article outline

1. Walking in love, the essence of Christianity
2. G for Generosity
3. P for Patience
4. S for Service
5. God's love poured out in our hearts

1. Walking in love, the essence of Christianity

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God also in Christ forgave you. Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. Walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance" (Ephesians 4:32, 5:1-2).

You are a beloved child of God. And because you are loved, you are called to love in return. Walking in love is the very essence of Christianity.

Tradition tells us that the apostle John, near the end of his life, kept repeating the same thing over and over: "Love one another." People asked him why he never changed his message. He answered that this is the most important thing in the Christian life. It's the essence of it all.

1 John 4:7-8 confirms it: "Love is of God, and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God. He who doesn't love doesn't know God, for God is love." If you know the Lord, you know love. And if you know love, you want to share it, to reflect it around you.

Imagine a world where people were truly able to love one another: no more hatred, no more jealousy, no more cruelty, no more selfishness. That would be paradise. Because wherever there is love, there is paradise. Wherever there isn't, there is hell. That's exactly why the church, when it truly lives out this love, becomes the most wonderful place on earth.

In the Old Testament, Leviticus 19:18 already said: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." That's already a lot. But Jesus raises the bar even higher: "Love one another, even as I have loved you" (John 13:34). There's work to do. But concretely, what are we even talking about when we talk about love? Not a feeling, not an emotion, not a desire. Divine love, in Scripture, has precise characteristics. Here are three of them, easy to remember as an acronym: G.P.S.

2. G for Generosity

The first characteristic of divine love is generosity. God is generous. The Bible says he is "rich to all who call on him" (Romans 10:12), and even to those who don't call on him.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son" (John 3:16). To save you, God didn't hand over a pair of angels or pluck a star from the sky. He gave what was most precious, most dear to him: his own Son. "He who didn't even spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

Some people give gifts just to get rid of a bulky armchair, a rotting couch, or a half-eaten jar of moldy jam, and they act like they've given you an extraordinary present. God isn't like that. What he gives you, he gives you in full.

1 John 3:16-18 draws a direct parallel with John 3:16: "By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does the love of God remain in him? My little children, let's not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth."

Love isn't a speech. Love is concrete. It shows up in what you do, in what you share, in what you give.

Patrick Salafranque recalls the time when, as a young pastor in Pau, his salary was cut to a third of what it had been. Once the rent, bills, and electricity were paid, almost nothing was left to live on. He and his wife took a piece of paper and crossed off everything they could do without: jam, chocolate, wine when company came over. They told no one. But God knew.

A few days later, a sister from the church gave him a whole crate of jam jars. For seven years, he never bought a single jar again. Then two Swiss families living in the area brought him suitcases full of chocolate, regularly, for seven years. Everything crossed off that list, God provided, through the generosity of brothers and sisters.

One year, just a few days before Christmas, a couple who ran a restaurant, who had lost everything and started coming to church, were about to spend the holidays alone with their two children. Patrick invited them over, with no idea how he'd manage it: at home, there was nothing but pasta and no cheese. On Christmas Eve, a brother knocked at the door with a large box: "My freezer is full, take what I can't store anymore." Inside the box: a turkey, chestnuts, an ice cream log, foie gras. They had one of the most beautiful Christmases of their lives.

God is generous. And he calls you to be generous too, toward those around you.

3. P for Patience

The second characteristic of divine love is patience. When the apostle Paul begins describing love in 1 Corinthians 13, the very first thing that comes to his mind is this: "Love is patient" (1 Corinthians 13:4).

Read the Gospels, and you'll be amazed at the patience the Lord Jesus had with his disciples. They understood nothing. He spoke to them about the bread from heaven, and they thought he was scolding them for forgetting to bring bread for the trip. He spoke to them about his death and resurrection, and they didn't understand. He spoke to them about humility, and they argued over who among them was the greatest.

And yet, for three and a half years, Jesus was patient with them. The best of teachers, the best of masters: patient.

God is patient. Thankfully for you. "The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). God's patience is your salvation.

It is said of Moses that he was the most patient man on earth (Numbers 12:3). He put up with 600,000 grumblers for 40 years in the wilderness. One day, worn out, he asked God to take him: "Lord, kill me, I can't take it anymore" (Numbers 11:15). But God could just as easily have answered: "Moses, I waited 40 years with you, in the wilderness, to empty your heart of Egypt and empty you of yourself. So be patient too."

So be patient, my brother, with your wife. My sister, be patient with your husband. Be patient with your children. Patrick Salafranque tells how one of his daughters went through a difficult stretch of teenage rebellion. He sometimes felt his temper rising. But his wife would tell him, "Be patient, calm down, let's pray, the Lord will do his work." And that's exactly what happened. Today, his daughter loves the Lord.

Be patient with that noisy neighbor. Pray. It will work itself out. Because love is patient.

4. S for Service

The third characteristic of divine love is a servant's heart. "Love is kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4), and the Greek word Paul uses points directly to the ability to serve others.

Here again, when you read the Gospels, you're struck by how much of a servant Jesus was. The disciples argued over who would be the greatest. Jesus answered them: "Who is greater, one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Isn't it he who sits at the table? But I am among you as one who serves" (Luke 22:27).

What does that mean, concretely? It means Jesus was often the one who got up to clear the table. It may well have been him, often, who did the dishes. The greatest is the one who serves.

Patrick Salafranque shares his own testimony. For years, he thought he was a servant of God. But he was far from it. Then his wife fell ill. She developed Parkinson's disease. Five years ago, she went home to be with the Lord. The last three years were very difficult.

He stepped back from ministry to care for her. For three years, he washed her, cared for her, helped her up, put her to bed, changed her. He cooked, he who had never boiled an egg, who didn't even know how long it took to cook pasta. His wife kept telling him: "Everything you're doing… For 40 years you served me; now it's my turn to serve you."

And during those three years, for the first time in his life, he truly felt like a servant. "I have never served the Lord as much as I do right now." When people told him she should be placed in a care facility, he answered, "Not in a million years." Because it was there, in that hidden service, that he was serving the Lord.

That is love. Concrete, quiet, often invisible service. The kind that costs you something, but reflects the heart of Christ.

5. God's love poured out in our hearts

G.P.S.: Generosity, Patience, Service. The GPS of the Christian life. The one that leads you onto the right path, the right route, the right destination.

Maybe, looking honestly at yourself, you feel far from this kind of love. You look at your own heart and feel wretched. Listen to this verse: "Hope doesn't disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5).

The Holy Spirit isn't given to you only so you can speak in tongues or exercise spiritual gifts. He is given to you also, and above all, to pour God's love into your heart. The Greek word used here evokes something overflowing, like a full vessel spilling over onto the vessels beneath it.

You are that vessel. God's love is poured into you, and then it must overflow through you, onto your spouse, your children, your brothers and sisters, your neighbors, your coworkers. You don't produce this love by your own strength. You receive it, and you let it flow through.

Key takeaways

• Walking in love is the very essence of Christianity, not one option among others.
• Divine love isn't a feeling but a concrete decision, visible in your actions.
• G for Generosity: like God who gave his Son, you give what matters most to you.
• P for Patience: like Christ with his disciples, you bear with others over the long haul.
• S for Service: like the Master who washed feet, you make yourself small to serve others.
• This love isn't produced by you; it is poured into you by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).

Personal application

1. Where, in your life this week, does divine love need to become concrete instead of staying at the level of words?
2. Which is it, the G, the P, or the S, that God is putting his finger on today: your generosity, your patience, or your servant's heart?
3. Is there someone (a spouse, a child, a neighbor, a brother or sister in the church) toward whom you need to find patience again?
4. What can you cross off your "extras" list to be more available, like the pastor and his wife in Pau?
5. Take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to pour out God's love in your heart again, so it can overflow onto others.

Scripture references

• Ephesians 4:32
• Ephesians 5:1-2
• Leviticus 19:18
• John 3:16
• John 13:34
• 1 John 4:7-8
• 1 John 3:16-18
• Romans 5:5
• Romans 8:32
• Romans 10:12
• 1 Corinthians 13:4
• Luke 22:27
• Numbers 11:15
• Numbers 12:3
• 2 Peter 3:9

FAQ

What does "walking in love" mean according to Ephesians 5:2?

"Walking in love" (Ephesians 5:2) means making love the daily pattern of your life, following the example of Christ who gave himself up for us. It isn't a passing emotion, but a lasting way of moving forward, marked by generosity, patience, and service toward others.

Why does Patrick Salafranque call it a "GPS" of the Christian life?

GPS is an acronym for three concrete characteristics of divine love he finds in Scripture: Generosity, Patience, and Service. These three marks guide you, like a real GPS, onto the right path, the right route, the right destination of the Christian life.

How can I love when I feel far from this ideal?

Romans 5:5 tells you that "God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit." You don't produce this love by your own strength. You receive it in prayer, you let it overflow, and you take small, concrete steps (a gift, a patient response, an act of service), day after day.

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• SEO title: Walking in Love: The GPS of the Christian Life
• Meta description: Ephesians 5:2 calls you to walk in love. Discover three concrete marks of divine love (Generosity, Patience, Service), with Pastor Patrick Salafranque.
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• Preacher: Patrick Salafranque (Antibes Church)