Living in the Spirit

July 30, 2021

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4:1-16

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. –Ephesians 4:11-16

We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. Sound familiar?

I do not think most of the verbal bouts we hear daily in our nation have much to do with the stated outrage. Instead, it is all about power and money. If some of our leaders think you care about an issue and your support will get them votes or donations, they will speak in favor of it.

With all the problems related to COVID, the one I heard my Senator taking a stand on was improving the delay of getting passports. While some may be in desperate need to return to jobs and family, generally, vacationers need passports. Tomorrow the moratorium on evictions ends, making thousands of citizens vulnerable to losing their homes and ending up on the streets. Adequate federal money was allocated to offset this problem, but many states have not been able to get it into the hands of those who need it. Part of that is the result of states underfunding for years the agencies that must handle the distribution and do not now have the resources to move the money quickly to where it is needed. The other more sinister part is that some government officials do not agree that those out of work need help. I am a bit surprised they do not care about the landlords or mortgage holders.

We must always hold our behavior and the behavior of those who lead us up to God’s standards to guide our service as workers in God’s Kingdom.

Prayer: Lord, help us develop in your righteousness, justice, and mercy as we strive to love like Jesus. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.