Trade Secrets: Walking in the Way of Love

God’s very nature is love – not the kind of love we humans experience, but a self-giving, sacrificial love called agape. This divine love surpasses knowledge and can’t be learned through education or doctrinal classes. It can only be experienced through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

When we accept Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit fills us, giving us access to God’s heart and mind. This restoration allows us to experience God’s agape love – a love that brings healing to brokenness, restoration to what’s broken, and freedom from bondages and addictions.

What Are Trade Secrets in God’s Kingdom?

In the business world, trade secrets are hidden formulas, practices, or processes that give companies a competitive edge. But in God’s kingdom, the trade secret is about exchanging our old selves for something new – trading death for life.

This divine exchange isn’t about chasing worldly things. It’s about making a trade with God that enables us to receive His love so deeply that it cleanses us, changes us, and completely transforms our lives.

Why Doesn’t This Transformation Happen Automatically?

Many believers are still living as their original versions (Steve 1.0 or Sally 1.0), clinging to familiar but harmful patterns like bitterness, anger, selfishness, gossip, fear, and worry. They haven’t realized that a trade is possible – that there’s a better, Christ-like version of themselves that the Holy Spirit is ready to download and install.

This transformation happens when:

• We seek after God’s love
• We pursue transformation into His image
• We seek renewal of our minds and hearts
• Following Jesus becomes more than just attending church – it becomes a way of life

What Does It Mean to “Walk in the Way of Love”?

In the early church, believers weren’t called Christians but “followers of the Way.” This wasn’t just a belief system or a list of do’s and don’ts – it was a complete way of life that impacted every aspect of their existence.

The early believers stood out dramatically from both Jewish tradition and pagan culture. They:

• Shared their resources
• Met daily for worship and fellowship
• Devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings
• Cared for widows, orphans, and the poor
• Welcomed people into their homes
• Practiced forgiveness and reconciliation
• Lived according to high moral standards
• Remained faithful and joyful even during persecution
• Maintained unity and love within their community

Jesus described this path in Matthew 7:13-14: “You can enter God’s kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad and the gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

How Do We Choose Between Obligation and Opportunity?

To follow the way of love, we must decide between two mindsets:

The Mindset of Obligation

– Actions fueled by outside pressures and expectations
– Leads to resentment, burnout, and joylessness
– Rooted in fear of failing, judgment, or disappointing others
– Uses language like “I ought to” or “I should”
– Reacts to outside demands rather than heart desires

The Mindset of Opportunity

– Sees every action as a gift and privilege, not a burden
– Rooted in love and fueled by gratitude
– Says “I get to” instead of “I have to”
– Views each moment as a chance to step into God’s presence
– Lives with confidence that God is for us and with us

This shift in mindset transforms how we approach:

• Volunteering at church
• Prayer
• Giving
• Reading scripture
• Work
• Acts of kindness
• Healthy living

What Trades Does God Want Us to Make?

In Ephesians 4:25-5:2, Paul outlines specific trades we should make:

• Trade falsehood for speaking truthfully
• Trade anger for reconciliation
• Trade stealing for sharing
• Trade unwholesome talk for words of encouragement
• Trade bitterness, rage, and slander for kindness, compassion, and forgiveness
• Trade giving people what they deserve for giving them the same love and forgiveness God gave you

These trades don’t happen through self-help techniques but through the Holy Spirit renewing our minds. We must ask Him to help us trade the old for the new, death for life, and the broad road for the narrow way of love.

Life Application

C.S. Lewis wrote that “our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us… We are far too easily pleased.”

What “mud pies” are you holding onto in your life? What temporary pleasures or comfortable sins are you clinging to instead of trading them for God’s infinitely better gifts?

This week, consider these questions:

1. What specific area of my life am I still operating as “version 1.0” instead of allowing God to upgrade me?
2. Where have I been living with a mindset of obligation rather than opportunity?
3. What specific trade is God inviting me to make right now?
4. How might my life look different if I fully embraced the “way of love”?

Take that thing in your life – that mud pie – and bring it to Jesus. He will help you make the trade through the Holy Spirit’s power and lead you into His way of love, an unfathomable love that goes beyond anything we could ever humanly explain.