Ephesians 4: 1 – 3 NLT
“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”
Paul now turns to practical ways we share our faith. He begs/pleads with us to live in a way that reflects what God has done for us. Paul is talking to Christians, people who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour and Lord. The behaviour he descibes is the way we should treat other Christians for sure, and also those around us.
And what does that look like?
We are to be humble and gentle. Paul defines the word “humble” in Philippians 2: 3 “Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.” God is asking us to put him first, others second and ourselves third. That’s not the order our society promotes. Put yourself first; think about what works best for you. And honestly, even I struggle with that order. I’m willing to put God first – but others next? Does that mean I’ll be trampled on by all those people in my life at work, at home, at the church?
When we think how Jesus left heaven and came to earth to live a life of poverty while he travelled from place to place, it makes me stop and think. Jesus gave up so much for us! But, even Jesus took time to be by himself. He took time to be with the disciples and teach them. At times, he told the Pharisees off about how ungodly they actually were. So humility doesn’t necessarily mean being swamped by everyone else. But it does mean that we don’t consider ourselves as the most important person in a situation. We care deeply for the people in our lives, and don’t always put our own interests before theirs.
Gentle works with humility. Humility looks at the state of our minds. Being gentle is how humility shows in our actions. We’re not harsh with people. We don’t insist on getting our way. We don’t have a “winner takes all” attitude as if we’re in competition with people. I suspect you all know someone who isn’t very gentle. They seem to dominate conversations, decisions, etc. When you walk into a room, you notice that person; they seem to be controlling the conversation. The gentle person listens and does chip in with ideas. People will likely listen to their ideas, because they realize what they say is good and they aren’t feeling bossed around.
Be patient! That is often really difficult. Look at that verse again. “Be patient with each other; making allowances for each other’s faults because of your love.” In our society we tend to want things right away. Even the microwave takes a long time warming up our frozen dinner. When traffic is moving slowly, we switch lanes like crazy to get ahead. When people disappoint us, or are acting beligerently, we want to react strongly in return. No one is perfect, so patience is definitely needed. Once again, Paul reminds us that God’s patience and love for us in all our wrong ways demonstrates how we should treat others.
Everyone of us is unique. We all have different personalities, different skills, different experiences, different interests, different successes and even different failures. Yet God is asking us to live in peace, to get along well, to live in unity. Think for a moment about the people in your church. Are you encouraging to all of them? Or do you avoid some for sure? Are you willing to accept that loud, active person or that quiet person who doesn’t seem to talk to anyone? Are you accepting with that person who often seems to mess up their responsiblities? Do you tend to be critical of staff, leaders, the pastor?
What a challenge! “Lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.”
Our song for today is Not in a Hurry by Will Reagan/United Pursuit.