In Ephesians, Paul, writing about unity in the church urges his fellow believers with these words:
"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:1-2 (NIV)
The phrase that struck me today was this one: "live a life worthy of the calling you have received." I'm sure most of you can agree with me that there are many possible applications of this idea both inside and outside of the church. I knew I was headed for a stressful day on my way into work this morning. It was set up to be one of those days where people asked, "How's your day going?" and then laughed before they got an answer, because they knew the answer wasn't likely to be good.
In my quiet time this morning, I asked the Lord to help me with exactly what this verse speaks of. I don't want to have a frustrating day and be snippy or sassy or cranky, but have it be understood and accepted by everyone because of my bad day. I want to have a frustrating and challenging set of circumstances in front of me, and come through the day exuding enough love, grace, patience, kindness and peace that others would notice it as different.
I remember, just before I started a long journey back to the Lord, looking around at the people in my life who just seemed happier, more peaceful and more content than the other people I knew. You want to know what they all had in common? Jesus. I want to come to mind when someone else looks back and picks out of memory the people with that little something different. I want to witness in that way: as a living, breathing, walking-the-walk witness. I want to live a life worthy of the calling He's put on my life. Every day. Especially the hard ones.
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