Ephesians 4:2

"Be humble and gentle, be patient, bearing on one another in love." - Ephesians 4:2

Why is this so hard to do? Patience in our culture is almost obsolete. Not to mention humbleness (is that a word?) and gentleness. This is something that is personally very hard for me to do. I'm not patient most of the time... like when I'm driving, or when I'm waiting on a call at work, or when I'm at home trying to go to sleep. Nothing seems to happen as fast as I would like it to.

I really believe we are a product of two things: our environment and how we choose to live our lives. Our environment shapes us and makes us into the people we are today, regardless of whether they are good or bad experiences. On the other hand, someone may choose to rise above (or below I suppose) their environment and live a different way.

The example we have of patience, gentleness, humbleness, and love is Jesus. I'm not sure that Jesus was necessarliy a product of his environment or of the society around him. Obviously he was one of a kind. Either way he gives us an example of how to be kind, how to be patient, how to be gentle despite the society around him. And if he can do it....

So the take home? I've been trying so hard to focus on this verse the last few days and have even gone so far as to memorize it (BIG shocker). I have it posted on a sticky note on my computer screen at work so that I see it and am reminded of how we're called to be all day long. This is really helpful to a boastful, impatient and not very gentle person. Being reminded consistently allows me to form new habits and new ways of thinking. Allow yourself to be transformed this week. Try to be good on just one of those points and see what happens- you might be pleasantly surprised!