Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)

Community is messy.

However, without a genuine community, it is impossible to grow and mature in your faith. It is undeniably difficult to always get along with everyone. We've all experienced bittersweet moments when our friendship didn't end right. When that happens, it is easy to become discouraged and hesitant to make new friends for fear of losing them again. However, we must overcome our fear and discover grace again in order to forgive ourselves and those who have let us down.

The church of Ephesus is made up of both Jews and Gentiles. Their social and cultural background makes them so distinctively different that no one would blame them if they couldn't get along. They were unified in loving and serving God because they shared the same Holy Spirit working in and through them.

You can be part of a church without being part of its community. That makes you a consumer of a church, and not a contributor to a church. You just want to enjoy their gifts but not bear with their weaknesses. Now “bearing with each other” doesn't sound very holy or even spiritual. However, in the context of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul encourages us to patiently put up with each other and love each other. It is an unavoidable aspect of community life.

The Greek word translated as "put up" is anechō and it means "to endure, to

show tolerance and forbearance". It is about extending deep compassion and enduring love to everyone, especially those who are estranged from us or disagree with us. This is only possible if we all look to Jesus for grace and strength to be humble and patient with one another. And as we extend the same humility and patience to one another, our whole community will encounter and experience God's amazing grace again and again.