“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).

Because of all that Jesus has done…
Because Jesus has set us free from the bondage of sin and death…
We are prisoners for the Lord.

As such, because of all that Jesus has done for us, we are called to live a life worthy of our calling. How do we do that? Aren’t you glad that the Bible tells us? “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

We demonstrate our service to Jesus by humbling ourselves and choosing gentleness with others by bearing with one another in love.

It’s interesting that the word there isn’t just to be humble and gentle by loving one another. No. Another word is added there that amplifies what God desires for us to do – “bearing” with one another in love.

What does that look like?

Brother Curtis Alenquist of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Boston writes: In many circumstances of life, we end up sharing life with people we would not have chosen, some of whom we inevitably find quite challenging. The monastic tradition has a name for these sometimes-quite-difficult people: TEACHERS. They teach us about ourselves; they expose us to what otherwise we may not see in ourselves or show to others.

Teachers.

We are to love one another by bearing with one another because there are lessons yet to be learned that will only come through the presence of our TEACHERS.

There was a minister who served in a rural parish for several years before pursuing a career in teaching. He lived on a farm while he served in the pastorate. One Sunday morning he was puttering about the barn before church when his three-year-old daughter came running in, holding out her pudgy little hand. She said, “Look what I found, Daddy. Isn’t it pretty?”

My friend saw the morning sunlight glisten on the object in her hand. It was a double-edged razor blade. He thought to himself, how do I get that blade out of her hand? If I try to take it away from her, she will clutch it tighter, and if she does that, she may cut herself badly enough to scar her hand for life. So he said, “Honey, that is very dangerous. It will cut you. You must not close your hand. You must give it to Daddy.”

“But it’s mine,” she squealed. “I found it!”

“Yes, I know, but it is dangerous. You must let me take it.”

He stepped closer, and she began to close her tiny hand.

“Don’t do that, Honey, “he said. “It will cut you, and then I will have to take you to Dr. Jones.”

“I like Dr. Jones,” she answered, smiling. “He gives me suckers when I go.”

It is not easy for a theologian to reason with a three-year-old.

Finally, my friend assumed a curious attitude about his daughter’s new-found treasure. “It certainly is pretty,” he said. “May I take a look at it?” He cupped her little palm in his, and while he shared her pleasure in the find, he gently pulled back her fingers one by one till he could lift the deadly instrument from her hand.

When Jesus comes into your life and says, “Let me take over,”…whatever you do, do not close your hand on the things that you hold. Give them all to Jesus.

• Dennis Kinlaw

“All Scripture is God-breathed…” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Think about that. All of Scripture is authored by God. The Scriptures are God-breathed. How did God breathe and author the Bible? The Holy Spirit moved human agents to write the Holy Scriptures. Human beings put ink on paper, but God, through the Holy Spirit authored, inspired, and breathed God’s word.

The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible.

We are also told that the Holy Spirit of God leads and guides believers. We are told in John 16:13, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible.

And…The Holy Spirit leads believers.

Here’s what this means. The Holy Spirit will never lead believers to do something contrary to the Holy Bible. No matter how strongly you feel about something, and no matter how convinced you are that God is speaking to you…if it contradicts the Bible, that ain’t from God.