so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:14-16 ESV)
I really like this verse as it talks about us growing up in your spiritual maturity in Christ. First that we grow as to not be deceived by human cunning and be grounded in the truth which I think can be very important when today a lot of false feel good spirituality concepts are floating around. Many people looking for the satisfaction without the conviction which is definitely not the complete action of giving up our lives to God that the gospel calls us to. We need to know the words of God for ourselves so that we aren't deceived but rather can instruct people.
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:26-29 ESV)
This passage points to some very good lessons that are beneficial to remember. In the last couple years, I was convicted a lot about holding onto anger that I just wasn't showing but letting it manifest itself in my words and actions. It wasn't until I saw the destructive nature of what I was doing that I felt the call to forgive. God has forgiven me for so much and so many times that I've sinned against him, but I was too arrogant to forgive others who were flawed and sinful like myself. The story that really convicted me is on this website. I would encourage you to read it since it is short and think about the times that you were upset about the sin of another and held onto it all too long. http://www.fisheaters.com/twomonks.html
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31, 32 ESV)
I thought this fit in so well with what I was just taking about that it hit the stop as well. Put away the anger and forgive as Christ forgave you.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
ReplyDelete(Ephesians 4:11-14 ESV)
This is a good picture of God's plan for us once again. This shows the purpose of teachers, shepherds, prophets, evangelists, and apostles. Their job is to aid the saints (us) in becoming mature like Christ. All this is so that we learn to lean on Christ and hold strong to this firm foundation. Their job is to help us build on this foundation, even to help us find the foundation to build on.
I think that God has called all of us to be teachers. If we have a discipleship relationship, then this applies to us. I believe that God has called us all to such a relationship. Therefore, our words are to be encouraging to one another so that we help each other mature and attain the unity of faith in Christ. I know I need to work on this.
Here is a helpful website for quoting verses, if you haven't found one already: http://about.esvbible.org/
DeleteWhen you highlight a verse and choose copy from the menu, it automatically includes the reference.
I like some of Paul's commentary on how we should live.
ReplyDelete"Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need." Ephesians 4:28
The implication of this verse is that we shouldn't only work for ourselves. If we make out budgets for ourselves to live on, and spend every dime on ourselves, then our work is wicked. We shouldn't only work for ourselves, but we should also work, in order to earn enough money to help others. We should do what we can in order to help out those who can't do as much as we can.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29
Similarly, our words are not our own. We shouldn't speak in such a way to glorify ourselves, or make ourselves seem cool. We should use our words to build other people up.
The work of our hands, the words of our mouth, and the inclinations of our hearts, we should take advantage of all of these as opportunities to help others out. We shouldn't live lives of sensuality (cf. 4:19), in which we make decisions based on how we feel. We should learn discipline. Learn to act upon what is right, not what feels right.
"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
ReplyDeleteEphesians 4:1-4
Again, somewhat related to what I posted last night, but I really like this verse because it applies to me and many other medical school students so much. We have so much gift and blessings from God and, sometimes, we take that for granted. We become self-centered and forget that we are really nothing without God. We hardly treat one another with humility, patience, or love. I see this not only with medical school students but also with physicians. It is so discouraging to see how some physicians treat their patients. I want to believe that people are in this occupation to serve and love others as Jesus had done for us. He came down here and became one of us, showing us what true love and humility is. This verse encourages me to become a physician that can emulate God's love, humility, and gentleness for the sake of patients who just needs love and care like we did before Jesus came down to save us.
Sorry this is so late guys
ReplyDeleteToday my BRP brings us to Psalm 33: 20-21
[Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.]
As Paul urges us "to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called" David in the past reminds us of the true urges of our hearts and our souls. If we can remember that this is our inner spiritual desire then acting physically will not be a problem. In fact it would follow naturally.
David knows this and this is why he declares that our souls and hearts wait and are glad in Him, respectively. Not that our souls can wait or that our hearts can be glad. They already are. God made us all of us knowing this. By trusting God's Holy Name to help and to protect we can accomplish great things. Those great things can be as simple as loving and caring for someone whom it seems difficult to love and care for because our human nature. But we don't have to worry, because what makes us us - our hearts and our souls - are for the one who has the greatest love in the entire universe.
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
ReplyDelete(Ephesians 4:17)
As my unpracticed mind struggled to compose even a simple commentary for this chapter, I was harshly reminded of the futility of not just my brain but of my entire being. Despite my many shortcomings, I can't but help believe that I know what's best for my life and that I alone should be guiding my path. I feel like Paul speaks to me directly when he instructs the Church of Ephesus to remember that, as Christians, they have sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Gospel. They should stand out above the Gentiles, who stumble blindly with no Christ to lead the way. This is a simple truth that I manage to ignore on a daily basis. I trust in my flawed ability and fight through a jungle of worry and doubt rather than taking the open road Jesus has laid down for us. Paul's message serves as another reminder that I can't hope to accomplish anything of value for the Kingdom on my own accord. Without Jesus, how can I ever hope to serve as an example of God's love to others? How can I expect to live in His joy? We must allow Christ to guide us if we want to reach our full potentials as Christians.
"I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of our call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4: 1-6
ReplyDeleteThis start to the chapter acknowledges that we, the people of the Church, should adhere to the path that God has gifted us. We have a responsibility to live in accord with God's call. God calls us to unity in him. We have a responsibility to preserve the unity of the Church. We have not done that. We as a community of Christians fall short in a lot of ways in today's society, but none more in my opinion than the lack of unity. Even in Theta Xi we've got people that only follow one pastor or people who don't go to churches near tech because it's "not like the church they had at home" as if there was no unity at all among the Church of believers and they wouldn't be able to learn anything.
Ephesians 4:25-32
I love rules of the bible, I think they are some of the concrete ways that God gifts us a path to follow. Here in these verses, we are given a difficult task to follow, but a beautiful task as well. We are instructed on some of the ways that we can portray Christ to others and we are shown the conduct that we are obligated as Christians to follow.
I must say I really liked this chapter- it is one of the first times I have felt that God was directly talking to me and it made me think a lot. This chapter hit home in many key aspects of how I view myself, the actions I take on a daily basis, the error of those ways, and how to fix them. I liked the metaphor of the children being tossed in the waves, which I have mentioned before, it brought up deceitfulness, bitterness, etc, all things that I am very well acquainted with. I particularly liked the following:
ReplyDelete"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. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts." Ephe 4:17-18
I share much of the same feelings that Nathan eloquently expressed above about the first verse and found that I live in the lie that I can do things on my own all the time. While that verse was really powerful for me, the next one was even better. Most of you know who know me well, know that I have a rather interesting view of the world; one that overall gives a negative vision of the world we live in. You can hear and see and feel the exact same thing as someone else, but if you are separated from the light of God, you have no light and all you see is the dark. People harden their hearts and all they can focus on is the negative aspect of things. I've done this for a long time causing me to not really trust people at face value, always questioning their motives, seeing what they have to gain from an action. And even when I learn to trust people, if they make mistakes against me (which happens, much like I can wrong them), its very hard to not let that shatter my view and trust of that person. I used to believe I think the way I do from some of the less pleasant experiences and struggles that life has dealt me. In my time at Tech I have met a few remarkable people can see the light when everything else seems to be going wrong because they have the light of God to guide them. In this manner they became the light of God to help guide other people in doing the same. I really liked this chapter, and I'm wondering if anyone will read this post since its a day late.