Live A Life Worthy Of The Calling That You Have Received
Be Merciful, Forgiving One Another In Love
EPHESIANS 4:1-6
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Ephesians 4:1-6 NKJV
https://www.bible.com/114/eph.4.1-6.nkjv
Paul challenges us to live our lives worthy of the calling we have received. That includes being humble, gentle, patient, understanding and peaceful.
But the truth is no one is ever going to be perfect in this world today, so we must accept and love our brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of their faults and failures.
When we see faults in our fellow believers, we should be merciful, patient and gentle; loving them without expectation, continually praying for them, looking for common ground in which we can build our relationships.
But if we are going to love other sinners and accept them as our brothers and sisters in Christ, then first we must learn to love ourselves regardless of our own faults and failures.
We can choose to love others and ourselves because God loved us first (JOHN 4:19).
We can choose to forgive others and ourselves, because God has forgiven all who come to Him in repentance.
We can choose to be merciful because our God is merciful, and we can choose to like ourselves and others, because God despite our faults and failures, chose to like us.
Furthermore, we can let go of all shame, guilt, and disappointment in ourselves and others, because Jesus washed it all away by paying our debt of sin on a cross with His own blood.
But “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:1-5 NKJV
My beloved, “There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
I Corinthians 12:5-11 NKJV
Therefore my beloved, you and I must live a life worthy of the calling that we received, encouraging, supporting, and edifying one another (1 THESSALONIANS 5:11).
But unity does not just happen, we have to work at it.
All to often differences among believers brings division. But the truth is, this should not happen within the church, after all, there is but one God, and one Spirit, and one baptism for we are all living in Christ.
We are all a part of the same body of which Christ is the head, and all have an individual calling within Christ ministry (1 CORINTHIANS 12:27-31).
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
Building unity is one of the roles of the Holy Spirit; He leads us in all in truth (JOHN 16:13).
But we must be willing to listen and cooperate with Him. We are not necessarily going to understand other people’s gifts and callings, but that doesn’t make them wrong, so unity will only come when we all focus on God and take responsibility for our own salvation.
Therefore, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
Colossians 3:1-4 NKJV
My beloved, we believers must be seen as different, shining for Christ, not as man pleasers, but pleasing to God. “Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:25-32 NKJV
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen
