Growing and Dwelling in Christ

 

Since the cliché says that, ‘Confession is good for the soul,’ I want to share that I am a bit obsessed with lists.  Okay.  I love lists.  More than the act of making a list, I love crossing things off a list.  There is the satisfying sound of the pen against the paper scratching off the task.  There is the sense of accomplishment that something that was before me, is now behind me.  I confess that when I do something that was NOT already on my list, I go back and add it just so that I can cross it off. 

 

I need help.

 

My soul finds a friend in Paul’s love of list.  Other examples are the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5 or the famous wedding passage, 1 Corinthians 13.  The list in Ephesians 4 has some of the same characteristics of others that Paul penned to different churches.  Paul lists six here, which for Paul is petty contained.

 

Humility

Gentleness

Patience

Bearing one another in love

Spirit given peace,

Staying open to the Spirit

 

I wonder if today you could spend time letting these words roam and rummage around your life.  You could start with a definition and example from your life for each.  For example, on Sunday, I offered a definition of humility (which is not my own) as, “not thinking less of yourself, just thinking of yourself less often.”  Then, I can examine my life to see when I might have done this.  Gentleness refers to both the tone and tenor of my voice, actions, and presence.  When this week have I been the proverbial bull in a china shop demanding my way or the highway that I have it all figured out and when have I NOT done that?  How am I being patient with myself and others, especially those who are not in the same place I am?  I sense that when I seek to embody humility, gentleness, and patience that love is a natural and normal next step.  However, I wonder if Paul’s list is a bit backwards, in that all of the first five traits could start with or stem from staying open to the Spirit?  Or maybe it is cyclical, that the more open I am to the Spirit, the more the Spirit has the first, middle, and last word in my life to be humble, gentle, patient, and fiercely loving? 

 

May these words do more than engage you intellectually, may they evoke and provoke a movement in/through your life this day.