Episode Transcript
CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
SCRIPTURE
Ephesians 4:1–6 NIV
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.
CONSIDER THIS
The peace of God is not just something we receive for ourselves. As people who carry God’s peace and presence, it impacts our relationships and the world around us.
Paul exhorts the Ephesians to “live a life worthy of the calling [they] have received” (v. 1). This way of living is marked by humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, and putting in the effort to “keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (v. 3).
This is not passive. It doesn’t just happen, but is an active work we engage in as God’s children. It requires effort on our part.
There’s a key word that’s crucial for us to catch: keep. Unity and peace are not things we earn or create, but that we receive from God and share in the keeping of. This is important because it gets at the source of our peace and unity and where we draw these things from—not human strength or effort or ideas, but God.
The peace and unity God gives us is able to be given because of a great disruption of peace—the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. As He was preparing to be arrested and go to the cross, Jesus prayed this prayer to the Father for those who would come to believe in Him:
“I have given them the glory that you gave me . . .” [Pause. Read that again.] “I have given them the glory that you gave me,” [What is that glory?] “that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:22–23)
This reveals something profound: our unity is a glory that we share with God, given to us by Jesus, for the sake of the world knowing that the Father has sent Jesus and that the Father loves them.
No human effort toward unity can achieve anything remotely like this. But we are charged to keep this unity through the bond of peace.
What does that look like? Does this mean we never disagree, everyone gets along all the time, and we all think the same way? I don’t think that’s the case.
Oneness isn’t sameness, which means there’s room for disagreement.
Looking to our text today, where Paul details what a life worthy of the calling we’ve received looks like, I see that we are urged to relate to one another with certain postures and practices that maintain unity and peace, while still making room for differences and disagreement. We’re called to be:
• Humble instead of defensive, controlling, or demanding our way.
• Gentle instead of aggressive or accusatory.
• Patient, taking the time to understand the other.
• Loving, no matter what.
Have you ever entered into a disagreement and someone responded in one of these ways? It doesn’t resolve the conflict immediately, but it changes the trajectory and nature of the entire conversation.
A significant part of my husband’s job is conflict management, and he has this profound ability to diffuse tense situations. This also makes him a great person to be married to. Many times when we’ve disagreed, I’ve been surprised to be met with gentleness, humility, and patience. While there still may be conflict, peace is now in the midst of it, and I feel loved and unified with my husband.
I think God knew this would be difficult for us. Of all the things Jesus could have prayed for in Gethsemane, this made the list.
We are charged to keep this unity but, thankfully, we don’t have to do so in our own strength. Paul’s description of a life worthy of the calling—marked by gentleness, patience, love, and peace—echoes the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22–23. These are not qualities we muster on our own; they are the natural outgrowth of an abiding life with God, keeping in step with the Spirit.
God has not only given us unity and peace, but He enables and empowers us to keep what we have been given. This is why Paul exhorts us to “keep the unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3). It’s a cooperative work, a daily reliance on God to empower us to reflect His peace in our relationships. God delights to help us in this: Jesus, who prayed for our unity, now intercedes for us, and the Spirit works within us to bring His prayer to fruition.
As we commit to keeping these things, we are drawn closer to God and to one another, reflecting the love and glory of God for the sake of the world.
RESPONSE PROMPTS
Think of a time when someone showed humility, gentleness, patience, or love in a disagreement. How did it impact the situation or your relationship? What practices or rhythms help you cultivate an abiding life with Jesus that bears the fruit of the Spirit?
PRAYER
Father, thank You for the calling I have received and the unity and peace made available to me through the sacrifice of Your Son. Help Your church keep the unity of Your Spirit through the bond of peace. Help us to be completely humble and gentle, to be patient, and to bear with one another in love, so that the world may know of Your love. Amen.
