April 1st, 2022
by Jon Cochran
by Jon Cochran
Good morning with a word of the day-
Ephesians 4:2 says, ‘With all lowliness and gentleness.’
We may not think of these two words as action words, but they are. They become action words when they are applied to how we treat others.
My wife tells our children and grandchildren a story about when she was young and she and her friends would have a sleepover. They would play a game and it was called ‘self on the throne.’ Then, all week long if they saw someone mistreating someone, or acting high and mighty they would just go to them and say ‘self on the throne.’ This would remind the person to stop acting high and mighty. Sounds funny, but it worked for the most part.
At any given time, we are either high and mighty, using someone, tearing them down, or building them up and improving their life. It's much harder to build someone up than to tear them down. Most of the time, when we tear someone down it's because we don't have a very high opinion of ourselves. When Paul wrote these words he was saying that I am either building into someone, which also builds the kingdom, or I am destroying both. To be lowly and gentle of heart is a God-given thing. When you hear someone tearing someone else down it's a work against the kingdom, not for the kingdom.
Ephesians 4:2 goes on to say, ‘With longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.’ Bearing is the work that God has to do in one’s heart that will make a difference in someone else's life. Bearing is what produces the love and peace of God in unity. And unity is the will of God.
Take self off the throne and build into someone today.
Ephesians 4:1-3
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