As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:1-2 NIV

It seems that some people have an internal magnet that lets them always know which way is north, while others have no sense of direction. Young people today are incredibly spoiled with having phones with GPS maps installed on their phones. My phone’s GPS has lost its calibration. While I am driving on route, my little car veers off 200 feet onto a side rode. Then it starts to tell me, to proceed to the route. Eventually it recalibrates and then slowly veers off or lags behind about 10 to 20 seconds. Not very reliable for making sure that I do make the needed turn.

As a prisoner for the Lord, there is an expectation for your conduct. As we saw yesterday, you are full time a prisoner, so it will impact how you live your life everyday and every moment.

“To live a life” literally in the greek this means “to walk or walk around”. Paul is saying this relationship with Jesus will impact you “as you are walking around in this life.” This is more than just having a good attitude or a set of good ideas that you believe. Paul says that the relationship between you and Jesus will influence everywhere you are going and every conversation that you are having and every thing that you are doing.

“Worthy” is “axious” in greek in which you can see we get the word “axis”. One meaning of axis is an imaginary line by which the whole body rotates around, such as the earth rotating on its axis. Paul is saying that there is a body of belief that we have received by invitation (calling) that will influence all other interactions that we engage in.

This is a step beyond WWJD – What Would Jesus Do. That’s a good question to ask, but it still separates us from “what we do” versus “who we be”.  The faithful parent takes a child to meet someone important. Their last instructions are not “follow the rules”, they look at the child and say, “Remember who you are” (a being verb). A child from such and such a family knows that their behavior reflects upon the whole family. They will adjust their actions because of the internal axis of right conduct based on the family that they are representing.

Can you see how this understanding will begin to impact your interactions with the national elections? And all other aspects of your life?

As a child of God your whole vocabulary and expressions are influenced by the grace of God given to you. As a child of God, everything you do is a reflection of “who you are” and “whose family you belong to”. No conversation is off limits to the constraints of love. 

If you are feeling a tug of constraint, remember that you willingly accepted the redemption price for your soul. Jesus paid for your life with His own blood that was shed on the cross.  The cross is a reminder that our sinful flesh wants to live and do its own thing, but we regard it as dead. Why? Because we are now children of God.

Take a moment to ask the Holy Spirit to recalibrate your sensitivity to His leading. When you start to stray off “the path”, may you hear His voice quickly for any course corrections that you may need to take. You have a wonderful journey ahead of you. Enjoy it. 

Tomorrow we will address some specific character qualities that influence our “being”.

Blessings love y’all