Bearing with one another in love
Verse for the Day
‘… with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love’ (Ephesians 4:2).
Additional Scripture Passages
- Zechariah 7:8-10
- Psalm 25:6-10
- Luke 10:30-36
Commentary
The author of Ephesians urges us to live in a manner worthy of our Christian calling by providing this profound social guidance: Ephesians calls believers ‘with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love’ (Ephesians 4:2). This divine calling is not merely a personal journey but is vividly expressed in our interactions with others. The four virtues highlighted – humility, gentleness, patience and tolerance – are all crucial for nurturing loving relationships. To embody these virtues means approaching others with a spirit of genuine humility, extending gentleness even towards those who test our patience, and showing forbearance with those who challenge us. Most profoundly, it involves ‘bearing with one another’ through our differences, reflecting a love that transcends all earthly divides and embodies the grace of God’s boundless compassion. Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief offers a definition that expresses this grace: ‘Not-leaving: an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children.’ ‘Bearing with’ requires a grace that hangs on when the temptation to give up is great.
Reflection
‘Not-leaving: an act of trust and love, often deciphered by children.’
Not-leaving-love: you narrow the road between us, making it impossible to walk by.
Not-leaving-love: you break our hearts with your need, and we find ourselves kneeling beside you.
Not-leaving-love: you carry the world to our door and, if we answer, we see that you’re not popping by. You’re moving in.
Not-leaving-love: innkeeping can be a thankless, interminable task. May we be part of the body prepared to do the work that never leaves.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
show us how to be patient with one another in humility and gentleness.
May the light You shine on our path lead us towards unity
and help us heal the wounds of division and indifference
that often break communities apart.
Amen.
Questions
- Personal: What are the personal relationships or issues that exhaust your empathy?
- Local: How can the virtues of humility, gentleness, patience and tolerance, as mentioned in the letter to the Ephesians, help us as believers navigate and overcome divisions within our local communities?
- Global: The innkeeper in Luke 10 was called to care, with only the word of a stranger that he would be repaid whatever more he spent. Discuss different interpretations and questions this verse evokes. What might those interpretations lead you to do in your relationships with your global neighbours?
Go and Do
- Personal: Complete a task you have been avoiding.
- Local: Consider initiatives in your community that require perseverance and consistency and explore ways to become usefully supportive.
- Global: There are issues in our world today that cause ‘overload apathy’ – the feeling that it is too big to do anything about so we shield ourselves. An orthodox rabbi was asked once how he observed the 613 commandments in the Torah. His answer: ‘Pick one and start.’ Go and do the same.
Original source: WPCU 2026