Ephesians 4:2-3: "with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."There's a book called Up with Worship by Anne Ortlund, and she described the average church as too much like a bag of marbles. Marbles scratch against each other and make a little noise, but they don't impact one another. She s...

"with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." - Ephesians 4:2-3 (NKJV)What is the opposite of love? Most people say hatred. They are wrong. The opposite of love is not hatred. It is indifference. Apathy. Hatred, as wrong and destructive as it is, at least acknowledges the other person exi...

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up." - 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NKJV)We almost always share 1 Corinthians 13 at weddings. While it fits there, it is far more applicable to the local church and to each of us as believers living out our faith in community with each other.Paul makes it clear in that chapter that without love, no matter what el...

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle (KJV says 'meek') and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." - Matthew 11:29 (NKJV)We tend to look at meekness as weakness. But meekness is not weakness. Meekness is strength under control.I want you to picture a powerful stallion who has never been raised domestically. Wild and free, running wherever he wants. That looks l...

"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." - Romans 12:3 (NKJV)Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself less. And it is not talking down about yourself either. It is talking accurately about yourself.We can ha...