What a wonderful word the Good Morning Girls studied this week in Ephesians 4:1-16!
"Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, 'When He ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.' (Now this expression, 'He ascended,' what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." (NASB)
The concept of being "called" has been heavy on my heart lately. God has been teaching me about calling from several angles. I have recently studied stories of God's calling in the Old Testament as our church is going through "The Story." I've recently heard examples of God's calling in our pastor's life and in my girlfriends lives. And I've reflected on God's calling in my own life. I believe that God's calling is two-fold. First, He calls me by drawing me to Himself as His child. As such, I am responsible to walk in a manner worthy of someone who has been adopted into God's family. Secondly, I believe God calls me to specific roles in life, for which He gifts me with the necessary skills to accomplish His purposes in those roles. I think this second type of calling can change over time. At one time in my life I had a clear calling to study youth ministry and to pursue church service. At another point in my life I was called to be a high school teacher. And currently, I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am called to be a stay-at-home-mom to my children. I have seen God work in and through me in each of these callings and He has done things in and through me in these roles that I could not have accomplished on my own.
The challenge for me as a child of God and as a mother to my children (as a wife to my husband, as a daughter, as a friend) is to walk in a manner worthy of my calling by displaying humility, patience, gentleness, and love, being diligent to preserve unity. These characteristics are so important!
Humility. Remembering that God called me and God gifted me for the calling He called me to helps me to remember to be humble. I am nothing without Him and it is His grace working through me that produces all of the good fruit in my life. In contrast, a prideful person would not be worthy of God's calling because they believe they can do it all on their own and they desire their success to bring them glory. I am sad to say that all too often I can easily identify pride in my own life.
Patience, Gentleness, Love. As a mommy, I pray for these three things on a daily basis! And I have experienced the power of God in my life giving me supernatural patience, gentleness, and love for my son at times when I know I would lose it without God's help. It is sometimes embarrassing to remember the excessive patience, gentleness, and love that God shows for me when the tiniest thing can make me lose my cool. I need to remember that walking in a manner worthy of my calling means that I should be patient, gentle, and loving to others, not just my son (even though it is a miracle if I can get through any one day without losing it in one of these 3 areas just with my son... but God is a miracle worker!).
Preserving unity. I am a part of the body of Christ. We can only attain the "fullness of Christ" when working together in unity with other believers. In fact, God calls me to specific roles and gifts me for those roles for the purpose of "equipping the saints" and "building up the body of Christ." My calling is not just about me finding fulfillment in my own life and bringing glory to God as an individual. My calling is about participating in God's eternal plan by functioning as part of the body of Christ in the specific way God planned and prepared me for.
These instructions seem simple, but I find them surprisingly difficult in real life. Too easily pride slips up to threaten humility and selfishness creeps up to threaten patience, gentleness, and love. I can too easily fixate on divisions rather than focus on unity. I am grateful for this passage this week to remind me of my responsibility to walk in a manner worthy of my calling. I am grateful that God equips and empowers me to accomplish these seemingly simple instructions that I find so difficult sometimes.
Most of all this week I have been struck by the cohesiveness of God's plan. It is amazing to me how He has worked every little detail together. My calling is related to every other believers calling because God works in and through all of us to build a strong body of Christ. He uses other believers to teach me and to build me up and He uses me to do the same for others. And He uses all of us, working together in unity, to bring glory to Himself. The picture of God's plan that He has been revealing to me through His Word is so amazing! And I am so grateful to be a part of it!
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