Ephesians 4:1 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (NASB)
The character traits of that family were described: humility (a compound word that means “low understanding” – and literally refers to placing a view of one’s self low on the list of priorities). Gentleness (prah-oo’-tace – means to be “considerate”). Patience (makrothumia is a compound word that translates “slow to boil”). Tolerance is a compound word from “hold up” and “enable” that suggests we carefully aid to success others in the body. (4:2). All of these traits are to be in an effort to “be diligent” (spoude: eager) to keep the body together and functioning well.
The FIVE qualities then, are:
- Humility: I must understand others in the body are more important than ME – my comfort is not first.
- Gentleness: I must constantly seek to be considerate of the feelings and growth of the others around me – they are more important to me.
- Patience: Others will do things that bother me, and I must seek to keep the “fuse long” and not spout off when they do.
- Tolerance: I can be used of God, if obedient, to hold up and build up weaker ones in their journey to grow in Messiah.
- Diligence: I should be eager to keep the body running together and well.
In some ways this seems counter-intuitive. Madison Avenue says a company grows by advertising and self promotion. Churches don’t work that way. We can promote, but in the end that will grow the number of people, not the maturity of people. Maturity comes from the Word doing a work to remodel the mind in a body of people who understand how to model Jesus’ attitudes in their daily walk.
