Walking Worthy of Our Calling!

Eph 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Eph 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Eph 4:3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—(NIV)

1Ti 3:1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 1Ti 3:2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 1Ti 3:3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 1Ti 3:4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 1Ti 3:5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) (NIV)

As I thought about this theme walking worthy of your calling, the question came to me, who is worthy of their calling? I looked up the word worthy and it means fully deserving something, respectable morally upright, good, and deserving respect. It also means having good qualities, good intentions or the best of motives. After reading some of the meanings of the word, I really began to question who is worthy of their calling. I do not know about you, but there are many times when I do not quite fit this description. This is not to say that we should not strive to be as the Bible tells us to, however, to be worthy is a tough call to conform to. As I further studied these verses, the thought came to me about Jesus and His disciples and apostles. For the most part, some of them were not worthy of their calling either. They denied Jesus, cut off soldier’s ears, turned Him in for a few pieces of silver killed Christians, and the list goes on and on. Yet, Jesus called them and used them. So, with that being said I feel that the only way any of us can be worthy of our calling is to first of all thank God for using a messed-up person like me, stay close to Him and His word and do the very best to be led of the Spirit and not of the flesh. For it is written “when I would do right, evil is always before me.” I am not by any means suggesting that we deliberately live unholy before the Lord and do whatever comes to our mind and act however we please simply because by ourselves, we cannot obtain worthiness. What I am suggesting is that we mortify the flesh daily and become all that we can to work worthy of the call that is on our lives. Further, I am suggesting that those of us who have perfected this walk and can do it with our eyes closed be compassionate with those who have not yet reached our level of maturity.

People of God because some of us think that we have arrived, it is very difficult for us to be patient with those of us who are not there yet, forgetting where we came from. Or, if we see another fellow laborer in the Lord fall we are ready to condemn them because we think they should know better. I tend to agree with you, they should, however, the last time that I checked our flesh is not saved. It never has been, nor will it ever be. Unfortunately, we put people on pedestals’ and do not allow them any room for error and when they fall off, and they will we are not there to pick them up, brush them off, encourage them, nurture them, and tell them to try again. Instead we are there to kick them while they are down, forgetting that at some point in our lives we were where they are and for some of us we are still there. It just has not been exposed yet. It says in Eph 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Eph. 4:2-NIV) I do not know about you, but I need somebody to pray for me. Being completely humble and gentle, for me, well I am not always there. I must admit, I do try but it does not always manifest itself. The word completely means thoroughly, totally, entirely no wavering in this thing. It then says be patient, bearing with one another in love. Now that puts the icing on the cake, bearing with one another in love. To me that means that if I see that you are faltering in your walk, I must bear that burden with you in love. Not to talk about you, make fun of you, demean you, become a talebearer of what you are doing but to help you overcome it by love.

Let’s tell the truth how many of us are seeing our brothers and sisters wavering in their walk and we are handling it with love, being humble and patient and gentle until they can come to the light and change. . Beloved, love suffers long, it sees no wrong, and believes all things and bears all things. If we are walking worthy of our call, then we must treat others in the same way that Jesus treats us. None of us beloved has arrived, if we had, we would not be here. It is my belief that we look for faults in others to see them fail in what God has called them to do. We do not desire to see them succeed because of something that is on the inside of us. We need to examine our motives. Why are we looking for the worst in people when Jesus only sees the best in us? If by chance you feel that you have reached the plateau of being worthy of your call, then why not invest in someone else’s life and be a positive influence in their lives and help them achieve their goal. For some of us we may know of someone who is on the deacon board and still smokes. Now is that person in error, yes they are. But the Bible says we are to patient with them and bear with them in love. What we do is go to that person tell them what they are doing (as if they didn’t know) and then badger them for doing it. Or, for some reason we think that we have the authority to sit them down. When actually it is written in Psalms For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. ( Ps. 75: 6-7 KJV) Just because God has bestowed some level of authority on us it is not our call to say who God will or will not use. He is the complete authority and will use who He wants to for His divine purpose.

Our responsibility in this is to help them to become all that God desires for them to be in the position they are called. The word says; Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.(Eph.4:3-NIV) That word unity means to agree, be on one accord, and keep harmony with each other. If you or I are walking worthy of our calling then we are putting forth every effort to be on one accord with the rest of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We are willing to help them, support them, encourage them, admonish them in love, and to bring about a spirit of peace. None of us from the pulpit to the back door can walk worthy of our calling without Christ in complete control and even then we are subject to failure because we can and do override the promptings of the Holy Spirit. So beloved let’s walk worthy of our calling by helping and instructing our brother and sister’s in their walk and to know that none of us are perfect although we must continue to reach for the perfect one.