Walk worthy

 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 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 4.1-3

I like Paul's instructions on how to walk. He does it all throughout the New Testament, and there are several instructions right here in the book of Ephesians. 

Here Paul tells us to 'walk worthy' of the calling we are called to. And then he gives some instructions on how to walk worthy. 

What is a worthy walk? What walk is worthy of what Christ has done for us?

It is a walk of lowliness

It is a walk of gentleness

It is a walk of longsuffering

It is a walk of forebearing in love

It is a walk of unity

It is a walk in the Spirit

It is a walk in the bond of peace

When I look at that list I find myself challanged. If I try to tick of the items I don't get very far before I see how unworthy my walk normally is. The list we see there is not a very popular one for the 21st century Christian man. I mean really - Lowly? Gentle? Longsuffering? Loving forebearance? Peaceful? 

That doesn't really sound very manly does it? 

But that's only because we have some really mixed up views of what a real man is. We have the idea that real men are gun toting, don't push me around, tough guys who border more on being bullies than being gentle. In fact, how many men want to be known as gentle?

If we are ever going to walk worthy maybe we need to review what it means to walk worthy and stop seeing the world as our pattern.