Good morning and happy Monday. I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather we’re enjoying for early December. You know it’s early December around our house because of the escalated traffic around Hulen mall. Marge & I live so close to the mall, we have to watch out. We have a few ‘back ways’ to get on I-20, but even some of those can be iffy. To maximize traffic around the mall, Fort Worth police come out on the weekends and shut down one entrance ramp to I-20 and change a few lanes around the mall. So many cars, so many people. It’s just funny to me that as a society we are so ready to do what we’re told. Here’s a season that says you should buy a lot of gifts and spend a lot of money and we do. Buy your Mom a card on this day, buy your wife a gift on this day, where’s the spontaneity?
Marge and I do our best to be good to each other all throughout the year. We have a contest, we try to “outbless” each other each day. That is, I try to do more good for her than she can do for me. You’d be surprised, its infectious and quite fun. A 'blessing' can be wash the sheets on the bed, surprise flowers, clean the floors, pray for each other, wash the car, roll out those trash cans, a surprise gift or maybe just a long hug. But watch out with the gifts. My niece used to call it “sit around stuff”, you know, things that do nothing but sit around and look good. That stuff can accumulate very quickly and then you’re held prisoner buy all this stuff that clogs up your life. The gifts Marge & I do are mostly things needed or things consumed. I enjoy giving Marge massages gift certificates, manicure gift certificates, etc. She can enjoy these and we don’t accumulate. We also like to gift each other things we can enjoy together. There is a Frank Sinatra tribute at the Bass Hall on New Year’s’ Eve and that’s going to be our Christmas present to each other. We can have a nice dinner and show, make memories, enjoy each other’s company and avoid the accumulation of stuff. We sold everything we owned when we went to Hawaii and it changed us. We don’t need what we thought we needed to be happy.
Today we’re in Ephesians 4, a fantastic chapter that deals with the Christian walk. Basically, what does it look like to be a Christian. You know that’s an interesting question, by the way. If I were to ask this question to random people on the street, we would get some very insightful answers. To the non-Christian, they might see Christians as self-righteous, holier than thou, goodie two-shoes. And some would be right. For the average Christian, I wonder if they would be able to give me some examples of what it means to walk like a Christian that is from God’s Word? It’s one thing to say, “live good” or “act right” but what instructions does God specifically give us? Well, if you want to know what God says, just open up His Book of instructions. It’s all in there, just look. Lets start with verse 1.
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” Eph 4:1
Let’s focus on the word walk. Paul is urging us to “walk” in a manner worthy of our calling. Basically, if you’ve called upon Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have been called and gifted. Called as a child of God to serve others, give out the Word of God and serve fellow believers with your gifts through a local body of believers.
I think I’ve mentioned it in the 5MC before, but I love to walk. I have a 3 mile circuit around our neighborhood and I do my best to walk it everyday, 7 days a week. (Sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate) Notice that I do my walking outside. In plain sight. I cannot do my 3 mile walk in my house. Well, I guess I could, but that would be like 3 million trips around my kitchen, ha! In order to really walk you’ve got to get out and be in the world. So, as we ‘walk’ in this world as Christians, what is the world seeing in your walk? No matter what you think, someone IS watching your walk. It’s a guarantee and if you profess to be a Christian, people are assuming that you are walking as a Christian and they are drawing conclusions from what they see in your walk. You are a Christian billboard today, what does your billboard tell the world?
Paul gives us a lot of ways that will make our walk worthy of the calling that we have received. There are so many, I’m going to list them all and then define them and maybe give a sentence about each. As you read them, remember, these are things that EVERY Christian should be walking in EVERY day. None of us are perfect and do all of these, but they should be our goal. Get ready, this list is tough, it’ll take a lifetime to work on but remember, if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time. Here we go, what our daily Christian walk should entail and therefore show others. We’ll start with the do’s, then the don’t do’s.
DO’s:
Humility - a modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness. God is first, you are not.
Gentleness - the quality of being kind, tender, or mild-mannered. This is towards EVERYBODY, not just the people you like.
Patience - the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. I struggle with patience. How do I battle impatience? A lot of prayer.
Unity - the state of forming a complete and pleasing whole. This is within the body of Christ and also in any group you may be a part of. Be a team player. That means you don’t get what you want, you get what the team wants.
Peace - freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility. True peace comes from Christ and will radiate through you.
Bearing with one another in love – helping others carry their burdens with love. This takes time. You cannot help someone with their load if you do not take time to walk with them.
Hope – “for those that love God all things work together for good” Rom 8:28. Our hope rests in the Salvation that comes through Jesus Christ.
Faith – belief in the things unseen. We have faith that all things work together for the fulfillment of God’s perfect plan.
Speaking the truth in love - that which is true or in accordance with fact, presented in love. Note: it’s presented in love. Be gentle.
Be kind to one another – treat others EXACTLY the way you want to be treated. Think deeply about how you’d like to be treated in that specific situation before you open your mouth.
Tender-hearted – be kind, gentle and loving. See the person as Christ sees them.
Forgiving one another as Christ forgave you – there is NOTHING that you can do that Christ will not forgive you for if you have called upon Him as your Savior. Forgive others in this same manner. Forgive them for everything? Yep, everything.
Don’t Do:
Be angry and do not sin – you WILL get angry, do not let it result in sin towards another.
Do not let the sun go down on your anger – be passionate to reconcile your disagreements quickly. If you don't reconcile you give Satan a great foot-hold.
Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths – filthy speech. This means cussing, dirty jokes inappropriate comments towards others, etc. This a huge one because its so easy to spot. I thought that guy went to church and he just cussed like a sailor! Damage done.
Speech that builds up, not tears down – would YOU want to hear what you’re about to say to somebody else? It takes much more skill to build than it does to tear down. Your words have power, be very careful
Work and share with those in need – don’t work to make riches for your own selfish ends, help others in their need. Help God’s body financially to give out the Word of God.
Bitterness - anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly; resentment. Not getting what you want.
Wrath – extreme uncontrollable anger. NO GOOD comes out of dealing with people while extremely angry.
Clamor - a loud and confused noise, especially that of people shouting vehemently. See this as an angry mob. Anger, confusion and irrational behavior amongst groups. Be very wary of these groups.
Slander – the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation. You're simply using your words as a weapon.
Malice - the intention or desire to do evil; ill will. Your goal is to do evil towards another.
What a list. Can you imagine a world today if these were adhered to? If you think about it, it really comes down to one thing. The greatest commandment. In Matthew 22:34-40, we get a scene where the Pharisees were following Jesus around with no other goal than to trip him up in His doctrine. One of them, a lawyer, asks him “which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
Jesus, of course, had it all figured out. He has us all figured out. It’s very, very simple. If Dan treats people the way Dan wants people to treat him, it will go well. Not perfect, but very well. Try it. The next time you deal with someone treat them with the traits listed above and stand back and marvel. We all desire to be loved, respected and treated with dignity, patience and gentleness. As Nike says, Just Do it. Love others the way Christ loves you.
God’s blessings for your day, and may your Christian walk today be one that emits the aroma of Christ and attracts.
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