Pondering Ephesians 4

Yesterday and today I’ve been meditating on Ephesians 4 the first couple verses. The following entry is my stream of consciousness conclusions from my ponderings:

“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. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—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 (NIV)

Here are some thoughts:
I love the KJV words for humble, gentle and patient…lowliness, meekness, long suffering. Think low of you—not in a self-hatred, condemning way—just realize how desperate you are in need of Jesus. You are both a marvel and delightful creation of the Lord AND you are complete human, outside of Christ, your heart is vile. Think of your self less often (not as less valuable—simply less often) and cause others to think of you less often. I picture this gentleness and meekness as living in such a way that others notice the Lord and other people first.

"Bearing with one anther in love." I looked up to bear in blueletterbible.org and in the dictionary. To bear means carry one another’s burdens, even one another debts. To bear with one another could also mean to bear fruit in one another. To bear, to hold onto one another. Specifically, it means to be in the midst of AND hold onto one another. In other words, hang on tight to each other and/or lift one another up—make up for each other’s faults. I can picture people standing shoulder to shoulder with their arms around one another waists. It is a picture of unity and strength. If one person was weak, they would be strengthened by those beside them.

"Make every effort [the implication is that it will take MUCH effort] to keep the unity of the Spirit [agreement, oneness] through the bond of peace." This word bond actually can mean ligaments—the stuff that connects the bones together. The bond (or ligaments) is what allows the human body to be flexible—but it has limits (imagine a sprained ankle. Ligaments can stretched and be injured or they can tear or snap altogether). The word peace can be described as an absence of rage or war…an absence of tension. This excerpt draws an interesting conclusion in my heart: first, peace is bonding. Peace connects our hearts together in a way that can flex. (think about that in the context of marriage, friendship, or parenting…wow) When you put it all together, you’ll get something like this:

Work hard at peace, it will help you stick together and flex with one another so you can help one another and have agreement in the Spirit—you can be one if you work hard at peace so you can be flexible with one another and compensate for one another.

Or.

Work hard at peace, make up for one another's faults, carry each other, hold onto each other…really, really work at it. Then you’ll be able to be one—you’ll have agreement in the Spirit.

I am out of time. I’m not at all sure how that connects to that last verse, but I’m eager to hunt after it. I hope you beat me to it.