Ephesians 4:1-6 (ESV)
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
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A gray-haired man walks haltingly through the cemetery at
Normandy on the north coast of France. He passes through the sea of
white crosses marking the resting places of hundreds of young men whose
lives were cut off on D-Day decades earlier. He drops to his knees in
front of the marker of someone who saved his life, and struggles to get
out a plea to his wife who is standing at his side: “Tell me I’ve lived a
good life...Tell me I’m a good man.”
In this, the opening scene in the film Saving Private Ryan, the man wants to know if he has lived a life worthy of those who sacrificed so much.
The world would be radically different if those who believed in
Christ truly lived lives worthy of his sacrifice. This was what the
apostle Paul longed for among believers: “I urge you to live a life
worthy of the calling.”
The calling of God is a gift and a summons. It is a call to something, to be something.
To be “completely humble” in a culture of presumption and arrogance. To
be “gentle” in the face of harshness and unkindness. To be “patient”
when instant gratification is the driving force of society. To “bear
with one another in love” instead of discarding people who irritate or
inconvenience us.
The call of God also summons us to unity. This is God’s plan
for mending fragmented lives: “the unity of the Spirit, the bond of
peace, one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one Father.” It begins
here: “you were called to one hope when you were called.”
The crosses at Normandy remind us of the one cross—the cross of
Jesus—which summons us all to a higher level. That call must not be
taken lightly.
PONDER: What is one area of life where you know you are not living “a life worthy of the calling”?
REFLECTION or DISCUSSION:
When we begin a friendship with God, we become a new creation,
as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Part of becoming this new creation is
shown through the traits that we begin to live out in our everyday
lives. We find three of these traits in Ephesians 4:2.
Read Ephesians 4:2. What does it mean to be humble?
When have you been humble? What does it mean to be gentle? Where do you
need to be gentle? What does it mean to be patient? When is it hard for
you to be patient? What are some ways you can love others?
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