Day 181 "Walk The Talk" (Ephesians: Chapter Four)

What you do with your life makes a difference. One can use one's life to bring about destruction and misery to others or one can choose to live one's life helping to bring about hope and encouragement drawing the best out of others. We have been given the freedom to choose how we live our lives. But in this chapter of Ephesians, Paul urges the believers in Ephesus to live lives worthy of the calling they have received.

Ephesians: Chapter Four

:1 "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."

What a difference it makes when we live our lives in a way that resembles

the identity that we believe we are. Our identity is defined at birth-for the

Christian, it was defined by the spiritual rebirth that takes place when one

chooses to accept by faith that Christ died for our sins to reconcile back into

a relationship with god. With that decision, a believer becomes a child of God.

How should a child of God act?

:2-3 "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in

love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond

of peace.

All the law can be maintained by one word. Love. Love is the ability to place importance on the other person's interest before one's own. All the sins we

commit, all the hardships we place upon others, all stem from a selfishness

on our part to put our interest before the interest of others.

:12-13 "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be

built up until we all reach unity in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of fullness in Christ.

:14 "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and

blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craft-

iness of men in their deceitful scheming.

There is a purpose that stands before us as Christians: to help lift up one another up towards maturity and understanding in Christ. To achieve this for ourselves and for others, there is the need for each of us to transform our mind's mindset away from being conformed to the world's ways to seek after God's ways.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2

:15-16 "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

It is plain to see that Christ is the head of the body. And each of us as children of God play an important, integral part in that body. The body is formulated and based on love, the life-flow that holds the body together.

:17 "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking."

:19 "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more."

The bottom line is that in most cases, people who seek after their own wants

and wishes draw away from God. And in doing so, they find that the ways of the world do not satisfy the longing of one's soul. There is a need to do more.

:20 "You, however, did not come to know Christ that way."

:22-24 "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old

self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of our minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Paul's encouragement to the Ephesians was to recognize what their former lives were like. In Christ, their lives were now different than those who seek after what the world offers. There is the need for the believer to continue to

grow in one's faith, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our thinking and mindset.

:32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

In verses 25-31, Paul is instructing the Ephesians to act in certain ways. I have left this list of items for you to read over on your own for all the things that Paul is encouraging them to do would occur naturally as a conse-

quence of learning to love others as God has loved them. This is why the Bible states that love is the fulfillment of the law- no matter what commandment were to be issued, it would be fulfilled through loving others and putting the interests of others before our own. Thus, be kind, compassionate and forgiving.

Walking the talk is evidence of a life that is being changed on the inside of the believer. No longer left to be tossed about from one philosophy or way of thinking to another, we have the ability to grow up and mature in our understanding of God's love and desire for us. To

the extent that we are able to set aside our own self focus and submit our will under the will of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, will we be able see our lives change from the former way that we used to live our lives for ourselves to a life now lived as a child of God

and lived for others. Love navigates a different course to travel as one continues down the river of life.

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"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have

love for one another." John 13:35

Rest for a few more minutes and let your mind and soul listen to the song "No Longer Slaves" by Bethel Music. May it lift your spirit and inspire your closeness with God.

"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:13-14

In his love, see you tomorrow....

"Carpe Momentum in Love" (Seize the moment in love)