Living Out Who We Already Are

Monday - February 28th

Scripture to Read Today: Ephesians 4:1-10

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As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Ephesians 4:10

After thirty years of ministry experience, I have officiated or participated in nearly 200 funerals and memorials. Seeing family and friends grieve the loss of a loved one never ceases to weigh heavy on my heart. Of course, memorials for a follower of Christ are undergirded with a deep sense of hope in the Lord. The spirit and tone of such remembrances clearly stand out.

In many memorials, a family member or friend will encourage others to live their lives in the same admirable way the deceased had lived. They speak of the legacy left for children and grandchildren. Sometimes children and grandchildren declare that they want their lives to be a living legacy for the one being remembered. Those moments in a memorial bless me every time. You can sense the impact of a life and the legacy that will live on for years to come in the lives of others.

As the Apostle Paul moves from the theological first half of his letter to the Ephesians into the second and practical half, he challenges his readers to live a life that reflects who they are in Christ. "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (Ephesians 4:1).

Chapters one through three demonstrate the high calling and standing we have before God because of the grace we have in Jesus. Now, as Paul launches into chapters four through six, he challenges us to live lives that mirror that standing before God.

Ask God to transform how you live today into the standing you have before God in His Son. Ask Him to make you more like Jesus as you walk with Him here on earth!

As we seek to live and love like Jesus, we strive to live lives that reflect who we already are in Christ!