“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2 NIV
At the time that Paul was writing to the Ephesian church, they were struggling with becoming one, having unity. There were so many differences among the people within the church that they were finding it hard to agree on things like procedure and allocation of funds. Each person was trying to be faithful to Jesus as well as their old way of living at the same time.
Some individuals were more educated in scriptures and believed that they should hold more important roles in the church because of that. Others thought that because they were either Jew or Gentile that they should possess certain gifts from God. Paul was encouraging them to remember that Jesus taught a different way of living, a way that was the opposite of most of the worldly ideas. Being a Christian, both then and now, gives us the opportunity to demonstrate that way of living.
There are 4 characteristics in this verse about how we should live as followers of Christ. We are to be humble, not thinking more of ourselves than we ought to think. We have been taught by Jesus to put others first. We are to be gentle, keeping ourselves calm and trying to avoid conflict when possible. Not interacting with others in a harsh manner, but remembering to control our emotions in all situations.
We are to be patient, not always in a rush to complete activities or for growth to occur. Patience comes through trials, times when we need to demonstrate that patience in order to develop it. We are to bear with each other in love, living life through showing God’s love to others. We should be showing our love through our actions, making sure others are taken care of, being with others and understanding their situations.
Living life demonstrating these 4 characteristics can be hard at times. We are to try and imitate Jesus, who lived life demonstrating these characteristics and more. We may have grown more in one characteristic than another during our walk with God, and that is alright. The idea is to keep growing in all of them, no matter how small the growth is or how large it is, forward movement is best.
How are you doing with these 4 characteristics? Do you feel more comfortable demonstrating one more than the others? I encourage you to look at these today and determine which one you are moving forward in and which one you are struggling with. Then plan some action steps to help you grow in the area you are struggling. Ask God for help determining which area you struggle with and how you should move forward.