Love God Greatly - Made for CommunitySample

Paul speaks to the church at Ephesus about the goal of their personal lives and service, not just individually but as the church. He pleads with them to walk worthy of their calling individually so that the unity of the body of Christ can exist. Paul describes “walking worthy” in our reading today as exhibiting the characteristics of Jesus: humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, striving to keep unity in peace. None of these characteristics come naturally to us. They come as the result of the indwelling and work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives as we yield to Him.

Humility is the sober assessment and awareness of the truth of who we are with Christ and who we are without Him. Humility is not weakness, but the utter dependence on God and submission to His will in every circumstance. Humility yields gentleness. When we fearlessly recognize and assess our failings as we stray from the Lord, we become more gentle and compassionate towards others who fail us.

My favorite definition of patience is the length of endurance in an unappealing circumstance without a negative internal or external response. Many times, the Lord intentionally places difficult people and situations in our path to progressively stretch and lengthen the amount of time it takes for negativity to present itself. Development of patience by the Holy Spirit allows for us to bear with one another. In this development, comes the recognition and acceptance that everyone is not the same. We are not perfect. We are not at the same level of maturity. We are not at the same level of growth. The Lord is working patiently with each of us individually. When we recognize the patience the Lord has with us, we become more patient with others.

Striving to keep unity in peace is a deliberate action to focus on what we have in common. Since Paul is speaking to the church, he is speaking of the unity of the Holy Spirit found only in a community of believers. Since all believers have the Holy Spirit within them, we all are united in God. We must seek and strive to dig past our differences and cling to the Spirit, Who unites us and will bring us onto one accord.

For believers, the things that unite us are far more important than the things that divide us. Paul lists them here: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father. God has called us individually and collectively as His Church, before the foundations of the earth, to do very important things for Him here on earth. It is a very high calling…one in which we need each other to carry out.

What is the Lord calling you to do in order to bring peace to a tense relationship with another believer? What priority does peace have in your my life? What steps are you taking to unite and reconcile in obedience to God? When have you given up your rights in faith and experienced God giving you far more than you lost?

PRAYER: Father God, You are our source of strength and humility. Lord, help us to surrender our desire to be first, to be right, to be seen, and to be elevated. Lord, instill in Your daughters a calm and gentle spirit that reflects You. May people know we are Yours by our demonstration of unity and reliance on You. Lord, empower us to restore peace to all of our tense and broken relationships. Have Your way, Lord, in our hearts and minds so that we can walk worthy of our calling. In Jesus’ name. Amen.