Thursday, August 27, 2020

 


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. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.  (Ephesians 4) 

Those of us in the body of Christ are God's Grace gifts to one another.  As Paul goes on to say in the rest of the chapter, out of God's grace in Christ, He gives gifts to His people to serve Him together, and in so doing, serve one another building up the body of Christ. That says a lot about how we need to view each other. God knows what -and who - we need, so for us to reject fellow believers He sends to us is ungrateful.  Notice some of the attributes and attitudes of grace we have seen in our survey of God's amazing grace: humility, patience, love, and peace. These are gifts and fruit He gives us, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, to share with one another.  We are to receive them and handle them responsibly and carefully. Wherever grace is at work, we will see oneness, unity, teamwork, and growth.  This is the result of that grace we saw yesterday in chapter 2: the grace by which we have been saved, each and every one who trusts in Christ.  Today, let's ask God that we might be receptive to the grace He offers to look on our fellow believers with thanksgiving, and consider ourselves to be gifts He gives to them - not in an arrogant way, but as humble servants for His glory. 

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