Being Completely Humble

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

BEING COMPLETELY HUMBLE

Eph 4:1-6

4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

NIV

There are two people here, Paul, who is a prisoner, meaning he is confined and unable to freely walk about and from that prison, he writes to the Ephesians, who can freely walk around and live a life worthy of their invitation from the gospel. However, he is exhorting them to what that calling or their life should look like, having received their invitation. This calling also applies to us, as we have also been invited into this life by the gospel. We are to be completely humble and gentle. Before we get into the rest of these attitudes or behaviors, let us examine or explore this being completely humble. The Greek word translated as completely is used mostly as all, every, or the whole, when used as an adjective. This then would rightly mean completely, lacking nothing, every bit humble and gentle. Which the Greek word translated gentle means gentleness, or humble. In order words, if we have received a calling from God, from the gospel then we are not to boast about anything, even our calling, even the fact we are a believer. But that also includes being humble in our daily walk, in what we do. It would almost sound as though we should remove the personal pronoun, “I” from our vocabulary, at least referring to a form of labor. Paul certainly used, “I” as in urging them. He was not boasting as being a prisoner, it was a fact and he was making the comparison between his situation and theirs. It is so easy to get caught up in the, “I did this, or I did that” vocabulary, which comes from the heart, or attitude within.  This is the core of humility, our heart. If we think more highly of ourselves then we should, we have a tendency to use that word, “I” a lot. One challenge we can face is having to be confronted by another regarding our boastfulness. How do we handle it? How did the Ephesians handle it, for it seems Paul was confronting them and urging them to be completely, not partially, humble. On the other hand, what if we notice one of our fellow believers being boastful, how do we urge them to be humble? Can we do that without being prideful? Should we do it at all? It seems we are expected to, as Paul is inspired by the Spirit certainly is calling us to humility. Still, it is not easy to be exhorted or to exhort, to be urged or to urge to be completely humble.