Ephesians 4:1-6
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
God encourages us to walk worthy of our calling.
How are we to do this?
He explains in the very next verses.
Humility, gentleness (meekness), patience.
Those are our calling at all times.
Bearing with one another in love.
That's an interesting thought.
This word means to tolerate, to endure.
So, if a fellow member of the body annoys us, offends us, hurts us, how do we respond?
We are to endure it for their sake and ours, in love.
This is not always easy to do.
The temptation of our emotions is strong.
We may slip, we may fail.
Then we must apologize and continue on in love.
In love we "put up" with a lot of things.
We love our families and spouses but there are things about them we tolerate for the greater good they bring.
We all have our faults and flaws, and times we may rub each other the wrong way.
But we are encouraged to endeavor to keep unity with our brethren.
God's family must be of extreme importance to us.
The word for endeavor means to be diligent, to make every effort, to do your absolute best, to be eager and earnest.
We must want and desire unity of Spirit.
To the point we sacrifice ourselves, our pride, our desire.
The same God and Spirit is in us all, we cannot grieve the Spirit and war between ourselves.
We need each other, and God loves all of us.
We must be careful and not go against God's anointed.
Because we are all one family, one body.
Following the One God, the Only God there is.
We are all prisoners of the same Lord.
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