Beloved
In the space of 2 verses, Paul uses “love” as an adjective, a verb, and a noun. Here’s the passage:
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you…” (Eph.5:1-2)
We are “loved” children (adjective), “loved” by Christ (verb) and instructed to walk or live in “love” (noun). You might think Paul is trying to tell us something about love. Especially when you consider the prayer he wrote earlier in the chapter, that his readers would seek to know how much they are loved.
“I pray that you may be able to comprehend … the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love for you, so that you may be filled with al the fullness of God.” (Eph.3:18-19).
Paul is most certainly not talking about some kind of forensic love — something that gives us a ticket to heaven but never touches us personally. He is praying that we would experience God’s love for us in all its depth and wonder. I suspect Paul knew how trusting God’s love could truly fill the void in his soul and fill him “with all the fullness of God.”