Scripture:
Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Observation:
Paul challenges the church to live a life worthy of the calling of Christ. He then explains how. Humility, gentleness, patience, love, unified through the peace of God.
Application:
Humility-
A proud Christian is an oxymoron. When we see pride welling up in our lives as we live out the life of a believer, we must fight against it and quickly repent of it. Pride comes before destruction. Nothing we come to know or experience as a believer is apart from grace. This must remain at the front of our minds and hearts so pride doesn’t come creeping in. Humility is considering others better than yourself. It is fighting against that worldly pull to self-promote.
Gentleness-
Many of things have been taken by force in this world. However the human heart is unable to be taken by the force of another human. We can’t make someone believe, we can’t make some love, we can’t make someone change. Scripture tells us the kindness of God leads people to repentance. In other words, God draws people through the exercising of grace and kindness. All believers should take note of this. We should live gently.
Patience-
In a culture where we want it all and we want it now, a believer must trust the timing of God as he/she lives out the Christian life. Both in our relationship with God and others. Demanding our timeline usually doesn’t work. God’s will, God’s timing.
Love-
This is in fact the easiest and most true litmus test for maturity in Christ. Living out the Christian life through the power of the Holy Spirit will always be driven by love. If “loving” isn’t one of the first words someone would use to describe us, something is up. In other words, there is still way too much of “us” still controlling our thoughts, actions and relationships. Jesus said this would be how people know we are from Him. I don’t understand how we miss this so much.
Unified in Peace:
Divisiveness is the way of the world. It somehow makes us feel better to get in little “tribes” and then highlight our differences to everyone else. This is part of the “self-preservation” drive of the world systems. Yet in Christ our life should be one of unifying believers, not dividing them. We should also be agents of peace in our communities, not agents of enmity and war. Living out a life worthy of the calling means laying aside our need to always “win” and instead seeking common ground. We are to seek to live at peace with other people instead of defending our “stance” by any means necessary.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for this convicting and clarifying passage of scripture given to help us live out the calling you have given us. I want to live the life you expect of me. I truly believe with this small passage of scripture as my guide, I have been refocused in the proper direction. Forgive me for creating my own idea of what it means to live my life worthy. Thank you that in all these areas you have been the perfect example. May I through your Spirit live these out!