Ephesians 4:1-2

I have not taken time off of my bible study but I also have not been able to blog about it as quickly as I would have liked to. I had notes in my notebook and I just had not been able to sit down and type a blogpost yet. I studied these verses two weeks ago.
"As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you to live a life worthy of your calling. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient;bearing with one another in love." Michelle liked Ephesians 4:3 so well that she wanted to back up to memorize and study the preceding verses. This again was Paul writing to the people of the church in Ephesus and refers he to himself as a "prisoner of the Lord" because he had yet again been persecuted for his faith and was in prison. I think he refers to himself in this way because he wants to make it clear that he is living out his faith in a dramatic way and thus be more credible and influential to the people. "Live a life worthy of the calling that you have received" recognizes that they have received the calling of God to be His people. It is a high and holy calling completely worthy of the dedication of a Godly lifestyle by the believer. I love the way my Believer's Bible Commentary describes this verse, "Our exalted standing in Christ calls for corresponding godly conduct".

I had a really neat opportunity to discuss this some with my father, who was visiting during the week I was studying these verses. I asked him to read them and tell me what he thought they meant. This was a huge step for us in talking about spiritual things because it made only the second or third time in my whole life. He said that, "we don't want to do anything to bring disgrace to our Lord". He also said, "of course this is what you should do but it isn't always very easy". Right on, Dad...I totally agree. We also discussed the issue of how hard it is to change behaviors and lifestyles that are taught when growing up. This is so true and really takes dedication to God and prayerfully asking Him to guide us in His ways instead of falling naturally back in to the old habits or worldly thinking.