I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love…” vss. 1-2
Ephesians 4:1-10
Sometimes, when we break out of the protective cocoons we build for ourselves in the course of our lives, the comfortable neighborhoods and the predictable friends, we discover that there is a whole myriad of ways in which it’s possible for us to live. We don’t have to do as our parents have done. We can go off on our own, and there are literally no limits. We can be as weird, bizarre, reckless, and as experimental as our imaginations will allow. And yet, for followers of Jesus, Paul says, there are some standards. We have a calling, and while that calling does allow for remarkable external variations, there will be an internal commitment to humility, gentleness, and patience. When those gifts or values are at the core of our being, people will be able to easily see that we are walking in the way of Jesus. The key to being able to live this way is, of course, our unshakable connection to love, the love of God and neighbor that was the heart of Jesus’ message. And because there will be differences on an external level, Paul says there will also need to be a lot of bearing with one another, and that’s where the walk with Jesus gets really hard. How blessed we are when we can pull this off!
Thought for the Day: When does “bearing with” someone get tough?
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