Bearing with One Another in Love

 

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6 ESV).

 

“Winnie the Pooh Goes Visiting” is one of my favorites. The picture I’ve attached today is an illustration of the events in the second chapter. Pooh has been walking through the forest, having already done his Stoutness Exercises for the morning in front of his mirror. His Stoutness Exercises foreshadow the main plotline to come. Pooh has also made up a little hum which he is humming, and he is walking around humming away when he happens upon a hole in a bank. Pooh may not be the world's cleverest bear but he does possess some sound reasoning skills: a hole means Rabbit, and Rabbit means Company, and Company means, most importantly of all, Food. Once they have “stickily munched their elevenses,” Pooh says that he had better be off, and Rabbit says that he had better be off too, so off Pooh goes, climbing out of the hole. And he gets his nose out, and then his ears, and then his paws, and then his shoulders, and then he's stuck. He tries to go back in, but he can't, and then he tries to go back out again, but he is “very definitely well and truly stuck.” Rabbit, who was just leaving himself, has had to use the back door to get out, as the front door has a bear stuck in it. And he comes round to the front of Pooh and tries to pull him out by the paw, but Pooh remains wedged.

 

Without telling the rest of the story, let me hasten to the point. Yesterday I wrote of the need to “walk worthily of your calling.” Today I want you to notice how the apostle continues. He simply says that we must be, “humble, gentle, patient while bearing with one another in love” (v. 2). I wonder how many times you may have needed to have someone to come alongside you and bear a burden? The weight of life can be crushing at times without having someone we trust and love to come shoulder to shoulder with us. I know I’ve walked alongside friends and family who’ve suffered immensely and had them come alongside me as well. Lost jobs, crushing financial burdens, broken relationships, death and sickness, loss of faith, loss of hope, mental illness are but a few. When I think of all of the burdens I’ve had the privilege to help bear it is difficult to comprehend how we, as humans, can have the strength to do it all. But the key is that we aren’t doing it alone. We are bearing with one another in love. And we are doing that with humility, gentleness, and patience with the goal of maintaining peace and unity. Perhaps you’re in need of someone to come alongside you today. Seek out someone you can trust to show you genuine love and stop trying to bear your burden alone. God never intended for us to plow through life solo. He made us for community, one body through one Spirit, serving one Lord with all of our own talents and gifts.