Day 30

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” —EPHESIANS 4:2-3

Following on from yesterday, the third characteristic Paul gives us in order to walk worthily of God’s calling to unity is, “Be patient.” This is our disposition toward circumstances. We often find ourselves in circumstances where things do not pan out the way we had hoped. Life becomes difficult, painful, tough, discouraging and disappointing. On what grounds then does Paul say, ‘Be patient’?

Paul knew what he was talking about for he prefaces this by saying, ‘As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received’ (Ephesians 4:1-2). He wrote this from prison; restricted, deserted and neglected. But notice that he describes himself as ‘a prisoner of the Lord’ (KJV). If he interpreted his circumstances only in the light of his enemies, or in the light of the unjust Roman judicial system, he would have every reason to be bitter. But he interpreted them in the light of the sovereign direction of God, so although it was not of his choosing, he is a ‘prisoner of the Lord’. This disposition of patience, knowing God will work out an eternal purpose in our situation, is a contributor to our walking worthily of the calling we have received.

The fourth quality Paul writes about is, “…bearing with one another in love.” This implies the truth that living with each other is not always the easiest thing to do – it takes some ‘bearing with one another’ at times! And of course it does. We have our circle of family, friendship and love, but this is about our disposition to the world at large. It is a disposition of love. Jesus said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). The evidence of our discipleship is our love for one another.

The marks of “walking worthily of the calling we have received”, are that we have a disposition of humility towards ourselves, of gentleness towards others, of patience towards our circumstances and of love towards the world. This, Paul says, will enable us to keep the unity of the Spirit. If we find disunity, it might be a good plan to go back to these four qualities in Ephesians 4:2 and ask, “Am I living humbly, gently, patiently, and lovingly? Am I keeping the unity of the Spirit by allowing Christ to be the source of these qualities? That is how we ‘walk worthily’.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I ask for your strength, your patience and your love to always be at work in me. Make me a true disciple, always living with humility and gratitude before You. Thank You, Lord.

TO REFLECT UPON: Am I walking worthily in the unity of the Spirit to which God has called me, and trusting Him for all the resources I need?