Text: Ephesians 4:1-6
Key Verse: 1 Peter 2:21, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.” (NKJV)
The test of a true Christian comes in our everyday walk with Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew 10:38, that he who does not take his cross and follow after Him is not worthy of Him. Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:1 tells us to walk worthy of our calling and to walk worthy of our calling means to follow Christ’s footprints. Christ left His footprints for us to plainly see and to follow. If we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, and follow in His footsteps, our walk will be worthy. So, Paul was not telling us to perform an impossible task. Paul goes on in verse two to tell us how to walk worthy and in footprints of Christ. We should walk with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering and forbearing one another in love. The world tells us to walk in haughtiness, hatred, greed, pride and impatience and if anyone gets in the way, we should run over them. No! Paul tells us to follow the footprints of Jesus and His lowliness, which means humility. Lowliness is the opposite of pride, and Jesus was humble. Philippians 2:8 says: “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Following Christ’s footsteps is to walk in humility and if we want to walk worthy of our calling, we’ll follow in His footsteps and walk a lowly walk like Christ did. 1 Peter 5:5 says: “Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” Another way to follow Christ’s footstep is for us to be gentle. To be gentle means to be kind and considerate. It means to have a spirit of fairness and compassion. Jesus was the most gentle man ever to walk on the face of the earth. In Matthew 11:29, He said:
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” To walk in gentleness does not mean to be weak and taken advantage of, rather, gentleness is a divine trait and a fruit of the spirit. Believers should exhibit gentleness in their daily living.
One of the core aspect of Christ’s character is patience or longsuffering and to see a good example of patience, watch a spider. The spider will spend many hours, sometimes days, spinning its web. When the web is complete, the spider will sit very still waiting and watching for its web to grab the prey out of the air. There is nothing sudden about it, its patience pays off. Patience can be defined as endurance in the face of adversity and it shows fortitude and steadiness when everyone around you is giving up. Patience is that strength of character that helps you put up with the faults of others. In 1 Peter 1:6-7, the apostle noted that suffering and testing serves to refine a Christian faith. In 1 Peter 4:13-16, believers are reminded of Christ’s suffering and encouraged to rejoice as we share in them.
• Today’s nugget: Gentleness is a divine trait. Prayer: Lord help me to live like Christ. Prayer lines: 08033299824. E-mail: [email protected] Rev. Abel UkachiAmadi, General Superintendent, Assemblies of God Nigeria
Therefore, we should not be ashamed to suffer for Christ’s sake, but to rejoice because our lives are clear reflections of the One we serve.
