As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
I love the statement of "we're all the same" here. Once again, your background does not matter - when you turn to Christ, you are new. You are new, you are brought into a new family with one Father. I appreciate the comfort of that.
But there is more here. "As a prisoner for the Lord.... live the life worthy of the calling you have received."
Do you think Paul expected his calling to be this difficult? Maybe he did. Maybe considering his conversion and the extreme measures God took to reach him, he just knew things wouldn't be easy. And yet, he didn't complain. Instead, he used it his situation to teach, to make disciples as Jesus called us all to do in the great commission passage.
My family has 3 goals (which I may have mentioned before) - Godliness, character, and contentment. These verses speak to our character - of the way we live our life.
I've had people ask me why I try to live worthy of God, as He doesn't exist (their belief). It tripped me up the first time, growing up in a pastoral family, I had a hard time imagining NOT believing in God. Eventually though, I was able to answer this question easily -
Whether or not God exists, the advice on how to live given in the Bible leads to a better world. And I'd rather live in that better world, with the hope of an even BETTER one, than live only for myself, die, and find out I was wrong not to believe in God.
Living at peace with others isn't always easy, people don't make it that way. On days when I meet difficult people, I remember what my husband says "Be kind anyway, you never know, maybe their cat died that day."
1 comment:
I think the thought of being a prisoner to the Lord is foreign to people, even many Christians. But we are all slaves - either to sin or to Christ. He is our Master and He rules us with love, for our good and His glory!
Loved your thoughts today, thanks Tiffany.
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