Sunday I visited First Baptist Church in Commerce, TX. I have been visiting the church for a little over a year and have come to really enjoy the people and God's presence that I feel when I am there. This was my first time going back to the church for a while. If you have read any of my previous posts you will know that I have been so caught up on everything else the last couple of months that I haven't been motivated to attend church lately. Anyway, the message this week spoke to me. All of the things I have been struggling with were put into perspective.
The message was based on Ephesians 4: 1-6 and titled: "Learning How to Walk". This is from the New King James Version:
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace 4 there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all , who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
I preferred the version that was used during the message but the concept is the same. The words used in place of lowliness and longsuffering were humble and patient. Basically this passage tells us how God wants us to live. Even though it is a challenge in this day and age to balance these things, that is our challenge.
God wants us walk worthy of the calling that He gave us. To do that we must be 1. humble. I loved the description of humble that was given. [ humility - I can do all things but it is because of the power of God which is at work within me ]. We should be humble in our walk, knowing that, yes, through Christ all things are possible, but it is Him working through us that makes everything possible. Doesn't this just take the word humble to a whole new level? In our walk we must also be 2. gentle and 3. patient. Gentleness or "meekness" is to live in control. To be in control of our actions, our words and our thoughts. To be patient is to not only be patient with God and the things he has in store for us, but to also be patient with those around us.
These are the critical pieces of how God wants us to live. And in the end it is all about 4. bearing with one another with love. On our walk we will come across people that we might not get along with but we must bear with one another with the unconditional love that God has shown us. It was stated in the message that we need two things on our walk 1. a proper understanding of God and 2. a proper understanding of ourselves.
All of this describes what the bible says about balance. It is not just about balancing our everyday life. It is more than just balancing our planners or our social and work life. It is more than balancing work, family, friends and hobbies. Balance is so much more than that. Balance is about living the balanced life that is talked about in this passage. If we live this way and balance these things; humble, patient, gentle, and with unconditional love; all of these day to day things will all fall into place.
I just felt compelled to share the message because I know that many of the people that might read this are in college or just recently graduated college and it is that struggle of balancing everything that is on our plates that sometimes drains us physically and mentally. Even for those who are older, my forecast is that balance is something that we will struggle with throughout life. As new relationships form, new jobs, kids happen, tragedy strikes, etc. we will have to re-learn our daily balance in life but this balance that God puts forth for us will never change.
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