Eph. 4:1 "Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God."
Paul was in prison - horrible - and yet that wasn't number one on his mind (... though he did mention it. The filth & rats didn't escape his attention.) Anyhow, top thought in his mind at that moment was to remind me that my top thought - hour by hour - should be to lead a life worthy of my calling. What's my calling? I've found that the details of that - my to-do's - may change year to year, even month to month, but the foundation of my calling is found as Paul's letter continues.
- Be Christ-like - humble, gentle, patient.
- Be united with the believers and at peace with all.
- Discover & exercise the gift or gifts he's placed in me. It's a responsibility.
- Mature in the Lord, which we do by exercising all of the above and which helps prevent being fooled by the enemy. Maturity begets wisdom.
- Let the Holy Spirit clean my mind, heart & life and bring new thoughts & attitudes. Not just for believers. This Should be a daily occurrence and expectation. He mentions being righteous & holy - lofty goals, indeed!
Then he gets into the nitty-gritty. The daily "watch out's":
- Stop telling lies
- Don't sin by letting anger control me - for it gives a foothold to the devil.
- Quit stealing if you're a thief (and really, who among us isn't? We at least steal time from those we owe it to.)
- Work hard & give generously
- Watch my mouth. Everything I say should be good, helpful, & an encouragement. (wow)
- Don't bring sorrow to my Father by the way I live.
Finally, he wraps it up by saying basically to stop doing all the bad & destructive things and instead be kind, empathetic & forgiving, just as Jesus has been with me.
I'm intrigued by the fact that in all of these instructions, he didn't pause & tell me "how" to stop doing these things and how to "start". I find that throughout his letters. He didn't offer to walk me through it. Why? I think because it's different for each of us and, though counselors are highly beneficial in many situations, we finally have to come to a point of meeting God at that point of pain or disobedience and saying yes to Him and no to ourselves. Similar to the AA maxim - "I can't see tomorrow, but today I choose to not drink". A conscious choice. I always told my kids that no one can "make" you mad. You get mad, you choose mad. We can say "today, I choose not to lash out in anger, not to lie," etc.
Some of these things may be results of a damaged past and there are times when we need someone to help us identify the damage and reach a moment for healing, but once we're there we have realize in those moments that only God can permanently heal & restore and set us on the right path. And, He will only set us there when we are ready to be there, willing to do it His way and realize that His way is perfect. His commands, His plans, His ways don't create a prison for me, but, instead, a place of peace, joy and even freedom.
It's hard for me to accept in my finite mind that I could live a life pleasing to God, but He says through Paul that I can. That it's within my grasp. Not in my own weak power though. It has to be, must be, by daily acknowledging that His, & only His, power is sufficient, His ways are not my ways, He is the God of love, by reminding my mind to stay on Him ... asking Him to keep reminding me to remind myself ... and by saying yes to Him. I think that saying "yes" to Him, even when (and especially when) it's hard is what brings about becoming Christlike ... and becoming Christlike will, by definition, cause me to live a life pleasing to God.
