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Scripture Reading : Ephesians 4:2

With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.

The first verse of Ephesians 4 states: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called”—our high calling as Christians. Verse 3 tells us that we are to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit¹ in the bond of peace. The second verse explains how we are to behave in order to accomplish both of these things. If we are lowly, meek, longsuffering, and bearing with one another, we will be walking worthy of our high calling—keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Our high calling

It is difficult to properly impress on Christians the loftiness of our high calling and position in Christ. Stop and think of the expression "children of God." Christians are named this way many times in the Word of God² (Rom. 8:16; Gal. 3:26, etc.). Being the son or daughter of a king or any other dignitary in this world is nothing compared to being a child of God. A Christian is of greater nobility than any earthly potentate. An old French proverb says, "Nobility brings responsibility." The responsibility of Christians is indeed great, because of our exceedingly high calling. We must live on a high plane, so as not to bring reproach on the name of our Savior, our Father in heaven, and our fellow Christians here on earth.

All lowliness

Earthly dignitaries are usually proud, but Christians are of far greater nobility and must be lowly. We have no reason to be proud. All that we are, we are in Christ. Without Him we would be just sinners, bound for the pit. We should be proud of our Lord, but not of ourselves. He was so great, yet so lowly. He could say, "I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:29). He was the Son of God in eternity past; but for our sakes He became the son of Mary, a poor peasant woman. Of those born into this world, He alone could choose His place of birth. He did not choose Jerusalem and the palace, but Bethlehem and the stable. He chose Nazareth for His home. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth ?" (John 1:46). Joseph, his foster father, was a lowly carpenter and our Lord Jesus worked with him.

He chose lowly company

Our Lord did not choose great men for His disciples. Most of them were poor fishermen with little education. However, being with Him for three years was in itself an education. We sometimes marvel that fisherman like Peter and John could write such wonderful epistles. Of course, they were inspired by the Spirit of God. Besides the disciples, most people with whom the Lord associated were lowly. He seemed to seek out the poor and needy. The Pharisees complained of Him, "This man receives sinners and eats with them" (Luke 15:2). And besides all this, He died the most lowly and shameful death. None of these things were forced on Him. He chose the lowly path. We should be like Him.

A lowly person is not boastful

A lowly person esteems himself little. If we had the proper perspective of things we would know that we really are small. A lowly person is not self-assertive; in other words, he never boasts of himself. The story is told of a young preacher in a small congregation saying something like this, "I have had very little education. I am not interested in books, I read nothing but the Bible. I am not interested in schools, colleges, or education. The Lord is taking me up and using me. I am proud to be just what I am." A member of the congregation arose and lovingly said, "Do I understand that our young brother is proud of his ignorance? If so, then all I would say is that he has cause to be proud." How true it is that the ones who have the least to be proud of are often the ones who boast the most. No one likes a boaster, so let us all be wise and avoid boasting.

A lowly person has no great ambitions

Human nature desires fame. We all had great worldly ambitions before trusting and obeying Christ. Maybe, you hoped to be a professional football player, a famous baseball player, or a movie star. When we are saved³, we are brought down low, but have we remained that way? Preaching his last sermon, an old preacher said:

I must confess that years ago I had the ambition of becoming a great preacher. Time after time, in striking ways, the Lord brought Jeremiah 45:5 to bear on me. “And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them.”

What a task the Lord has, keeping us lowly. "He who humbles himself will be exalted" (Matt.23:12). The way down is the way up.

Meekness

Meekness is akin to lowliness. This spirit causes one to patiently take any dealings from God or injuries from man, without murmuring or disputing. A meek person takes no offense and is not easily provoked. If someone says an unkind word to you and you flare up, you are not meek. Moses was meek; consider what he went through. He had the tremendous task of leading a large company of the children of Israel out of Egypt and through that waste and howling wilderness. They blamed him for everything. They murmured, complained, and even threatened him, but he took it and went on with his task. His intercession for them in Exodus 32 and 33 is classic. The Lord threatened to wipe them all out and to raise up a new nation, but Moses pleaded for them on the ground of God’s promises.

David was meek

David⁴ made some serious mistakes, but he, too, was meek. When, by treachery his son Absalom forced him to flee from Jerusalem , a descendant of Saul named Shimei followed behind, and cursed him as he went. Abishai wanted to go over the brook and take off his head, but David refused to permit him saying, "Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the Lord has ordered him" (2 Sam. 16:10, 11). The world sometimes says, "Meekness is weakness," but certainly David was not a weak person or he never would have fought the giant Goliath.

Our Lord was meek

Our Lord Jesus⁵ was truly meek. They spoke evil of Him, even cursed and abused Him, but He said or did nothing about it. "Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten" (1 Pet. 2:23). They said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons" (Matt. 12:24). They said many other terrible things about Jesus, but it never riled Him. He could truthfully say, "I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:29).

Longsuffering

Longsuffering is a word closely related to lowliness and meekness. A lowly man, a meek man, is sure to be a longsuffering man. They say the word "longsuffering" here means "to endure with unruffled temper." How much can we take from others? Sometimes we must endure painful things from the world—things that cause us to seek revenge. Sometimes we fail in longsuffering. Let us ask the Lord to make us more like His Son. "Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble" (Ps. 119:165).

Bearing with one another in love

Again "bearing" is a word akin to "longsuffering" as well as to "lowliness" and "meekness." If we are lowly we will bear, if we are meek we will bear, if we are longsuffering we will bear. All Christians have their faults; we need to bear with one another. Some have grievous faults; their ways are well-nigh obnoxious and they are hard to get along with. Especially irritating are those who know so much more about everything than anybody else. Such are always trying to pass out advice, even about matters concerning that which they have little or no experience. For instance, some who never had a child of their own, seek to give parents advice on how to bring up children.

Chronic critics

Some are chronic critics. Nothing is ever right. Some preachers of the Gospel have much to go through, their preaching is either too much or not enough. To some, things are never presented right and the manner of presentation could always be better. The only one who never does anything wrong is the critic, and woe betide the one who dares criticize a critic. While some criticism might be occasionally needed, still, all Christians should strive to put away distasteful ways. Do you know a Christian who has these ways? Ask the Lord for grace to bear with them.

Bearing of husband and wife

When a young couple are united in matrimony they usually feel that their mate is ideal. Time goes along and soon they discover that they each have ways that are not so good. Many learn to bear with each others failings, but some begin to do a considerable amount of quarreling. The story is told of an older couple who quarreled a great deal. Suddenly the quarreling ceased. Time went by, and a curious person asked them why they never quarreled any more. "It’s because of two bears, we found in the Bible." "Two bears?" "Yes, we found two bears, bear and forbear. 'Bear ye one another's burdens' (Gal. 6:2; KJV) and 'Forbearing one another in love' (Eph. 4:2; KJV).” In order to get along in the home there must be give and take, and the same is true in any group of Christians. Too bad some of us have to learn this truth the hard way. Remember, the Lord must bear a great deal from His unworthy children, us, and we must learn to put up with one another.

Keep the unity of the Spirit

Our next verse (Eph. 4:3) says, "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." There will never be unity or peace among Christians unless each one seeks to walk according to verse 2—“With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” Without lowliness we will have no meekness; without meekness, no longsuffering; without longsuffering, no forbearance; without forbearance, no unity or peace. Unless we are willing to overlook each other's failings and bear one another, we will never know unity or peace. Pride and passion break the peace and bring contention, while the virtues of verse 2, i.e., lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, and bearing with one another, restores peace and keeps it. The more lowly-mindedness, the more gentle-mindedness. Spiritual Christians, realizing that they have much within themselves that is not good, will overlook the faults of others and seek to make the best of them. This is the true fruit of nearness to God.

Footnotes:

¹ For more information on the Holy Spirit, see God the Spirit in A Religion Library section of StudyJesus.com.

² For more information on the Bible, see God’s Word in A Religion Library section of StudyJesus.com.

³ For more information on salvation, see God’s Salvation in A Religion Library section of StudyJesus.com.

⁴ For more on David, see The Life and Times of David in Additional Resources section of StudyJesus.com.

⁵ For more about Jesus, see God the Son in A Religion Library section of StudyJesus.com; Jesus Christ in the Synoptic Gospels; and Jesus Christ in the Writings of John.