Walk Worthy of Your Calling

“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.” –Ephesians 4:1-6 (ESV).

John the Baptist as he preached in the wilderness prior to his introduction of the Lord Jesus Christ preached of bringing forth “fruits worthy of repentance.” Paul wrote to the Christians at Ephesus (Ephesians 4:1-6), at Colosse (see Colossians 1:10) and at Thessalonica (see 2 Thessalonians 2:12) to walk worthily of the calling of a Christian. And have we not aspired to the words of the hymn: “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love; yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

We often refer to manner of life as a person’s “walk.” In 1 John 2:6 we are admonished to walk as Jesus walked: “Whoever says he abies in Him ought to walk in the same wasy as He walked.” Now that is indeed a worthy goal—one that is nigh impossible to achieve in this life. But we do have a worthy pattern, and our aim should daily be to walk in a way that emulates Christ. Many of our Christian youth wear a bracelet with the initials WWJD, a reminder to them to ask (and seek to find) “What would Jesus do?” In calling Christians to walk worthy of their calling, Paul lists some of the characteristics we know as fruit of the Spirit: humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, love. And within the fellowship of believers we will seek to maintain unity. Where discord enters, confusion abounds. Neither of these is a characteristic of a spirit of unity.

Paul ends this teaching of walking worthy of our calling by giving some strong doctrine: “one Lord,, one faith, one baptism, on God and Father of all.” The Christian comes to this walk through grace, the unmerited favor of God. Once that relationship is established, we then have a responsibility to “walk worthy” of our calling. Today is a good day to examine our walk with the Lord. Is He beside me as I go, within me as I make decisions, a constant companion in the every-dayness of my life? Do I talk to Him as an available friend and counselor? Do I study the word consistently and apply its truths to my life? Does my relationship with Him permeate all I do? Do I ask, “What would Jesus do?”