In Christ: Know It, Live It - 43 (Treating One Another Like Christ Would)

In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul challenges us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling to be God's one, united church. He exhorts us to be EAGER to maintain the unity of the church through pursuing peace in our relationships. How are we to live this way?

"...With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love..." v.2

These 5 character qualities are the very character of CHRIST. We see them everywhere in the gospels and the rest of the NT as Jesus interacts with His disciples, with His enemies, and with the lost. Surely if we treat one another as Jesus would, with Jesus' character, we'll have no problem maintaining unity and harmony in our church!

• "With all HUMILITY" - To be HUMBLE is to consider ourselves SMALL. It is to have a correct estimation of ourselves. At the same time, humility is to consider OTHERS of GREAT WORTH and VALUE and therefore to SERVE them. This was Jesus' attitude in His INCARNATION. "...Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a SERVANT..." Philippians 2:6,7. THAT is Jesus-type humility, and earlier the Apostle writes, "Have THIS MIND among yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus" Philippians 2:5. The only way to be truly humble in attitude and actions towards others is to KNOW that God is your Father, that you are His child, and that He is providing all you truly need and causing all things to work together for your good. See this in the life of Jesus in John 13:3ff.
• "and GENTLENESS" - Gentleness and Meekness are synonyms. Gentleness is "power under control." To be gentle is NOT to be weak. Rather, it is to use one's power (physical and other) for the GOOD of others. Is to use one's strength to LIFT UP, not to PUT DOWN. Think of a big, burly dad gently holding his baby daughter or playing with her or wrestling with her. Power under control. Think also of Jesus, being blasphemed, beaten, and crucified but not utterly vaporizing His enemies with one command to thousands of angelic warriors. Rather, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them." Jesus loved His enemies.

We'll continue to look at these Jesus' qualities tomorrow, the Lord willing. But for now, it is a good thing and perhaps a difficult thing to ask ourselves,

• Am I BIG and others SMALL? Do I look for others to serve me without moving toward them to serve first? Do I wear an apron as I look for others' feet to wash or do I scan the horizon for folks who are wearing aprons so I can get in their line?
• Am I truly GENTLE? Am I like James and John, ready to call down fire from heaven on my enemies, those liberal elitists that are taking over...hmmmm. Or, like Jesus, am I ready to ask the Father to forgive those who deserve the opposite, JUST LIKE I DID...AND DO?