Sunday Scripture

 

Time for another Sunday Scripture post!   As I've previously mentioned,  I worked on a Bible study of Ephesians for the month of January and so I've been using this study to write some Sunday Scripture posts for the remainder of the winter.  

The study I've been working on is the Ephesians Bible study from Good Morning Girls.  For the Scripture Sundays, I'll just select some of the verses I have worked on and share how I used the SOAP method of Bible study.  For today's lesson, we were to look at Ephesians 4:1-7, but I chose to write out and SOAP verses 1-3, though I will allude to some of the other verses.  Here we go:

S= "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called,
"With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
"Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."  (Ephesians 4:1-3)

O= It is Paul, "the prisoner of the Lord" who is beseeching his readers here.  Paul was literally in prison as he wrote.   He beseeches the Christians at Ephesus (and us!):
* To walk worthy of the vocation God has called them to;
* To walk in lowliness and meekness;
* To exhibit longsuffering; to show forbearance to other believers in love;
* To endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

A cross-reference to this passage is 1 Thessalonians 2:12 -- "That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory."

A=  As one of "the faithful in Christ Jesus" (1:1), I know that Paul is also beseeching me to pay attention to these matters.  I am to "walk worthy of God, who has called me unto His kingdom and glory."  He is instructing me, and all believers, to walk through life in humility and gentleness as members of His redeemed family.   I'm to be longsuffering and forbearing with my fellow believers.  This isn't always easy, but can be done in God's strength to promote greater unity and peace in His body.

The Reflection Question directed, "Evaluate yourself right now and write below which areas you need to work on.  In what areas are you tempted to be prideful and how can you be humbler?  Would others describe you as gentle?  Why or why not?  Is anyone trying your patience right now?  Pray for strength ... Is there anything you can do more to bring greater unity or peace in the body of Christ?"

Maybe you would like to work through this exercise on your own.  I will share my answers below:

"I have a list of character flaws that I am continually praying my way through.  I don't necessarily see myself as prideful, but I'm sure I have some tendencies toward that area as it's just the human condition.  I don't really see myself as gentle, although people have described me that way.  In general, my patience is tried by people who are closed-minded and those believers who won't make any attempt to grow spiritually.  I'm sure that there probably is more -- maybe much more -- that I can do to promote greater unity and peace in the body of Christ -- and I can trust Him to lead and guide me in that."

P= "Lord, I know that these verses speak directly to me.  I pray that You will help me each day to walk worthy of You -- to live my life in an attitude of humility, gentleness, patience, and love, especially in relationship to other believers, but also to the world around me.  Help me to grow and change in the areas that need work.  I thank You for all that You will do, in Jesus' name, Amen."

That is our simple study for today!  I hope it was a blessing to you.