Walking Worthy of Our Calling

Quick Summary

Walking worthy of our calling in Ephesians is about living from the identity God has already given—beloved, reconciled, Spirit-shaped, and rooted in Christ. Paul calls believers to embody humility, gentleness, patience, and love in everyday relationships. This way of life echoes the insights of discipleship writers like Dallas Willard, who describe discipleship as the steady transformation of the inner life so that Christ’s character becomes natural in us. Walking worthy is not about striving for worthiness but responding to the grace already given.

Introduction

When Paul urges the church to “walk worthy of the calling” (Ephesians 4:1), he speaks to believers who have already been blessed, forgiven, united in Christ, and sealed with the Spirit. The calling is established. The walk flows from it. This movement—from grace received to grace lived—is central to the letter, and it aligns with the perspectives of Christian thinkers who emphasize the formation of the whole self in Christ.

Dallas Willard often described discipleship as becoming the kind of person for whom the Sermon on the Mount naturally fits. Ephesians captures a similar vision: a life shaped from the inside out by the Spirit. Walking worthy is less about rigid behavior and more about becoming a person who reflects the love and unity Christ has already created.

Walking Worthy of Our Calling

Paul’s teaching unfolds through several qualities and practices that shape the communal life of the church.

1. Humility: Seeing Ourselves Clearly

Paul begins with humility. In a culture shaped by honor and status, humility was often misunderstood. Yet Paul places it first. Humility grows from knowing who we are in Christ—chosen, forgiven, loved, and sustained by grace.

Discipleship writers like Henri Nouwen describe humility as grounded tenderness toward oneself and others. It frees the heart from competition, allowing believers to walk gently, not defensively.

2. Gentleness: Strength with Restraint

Gentleness in Ephesians is not weakness. It is strength expressed through care. It mirrors the way Christ treats the church—with patience, compassion, and steady love.

Dallas Willard wrote that the mature disciple becomes “unhurried,” able to respond rather than react. Gentleness is the posture of someone formed by the Spirit’s steadying presence.

3. Patience: Steadfast Love in Real Time

Patience holds space for others to grow. It honors the slow work of God. In a world of pressure and urgency, patience resists the impulse to control outcomes.

Paul invites believers to cultivate patience through shared life. Unity requires time, grace, and perseverance.

4. Bearing with One Another in Love

Paul does not idealize community. He acknowledges that relationships require effort. Bearing with one another in love involves forgiveness, understanding, and the refusal to let irritation become division.

Love becomes the measure and motivation for every action.

5. Maintaining the Unity Given by the Spirit

Unity is not created by human effort. It is given by the Spirit. Paul asks the church to preserve it with diligence.

This unity is expressed through:

• humility,

• gentleness,

• patience,

• peace.

Willard often emphasized that community is where discipleship becomes visible and tested. Unity is the shared practice of living from the life Christ gives.

6. Walking in Our Gifts

Paul connects walking worthy with the gifts Christ gives to the church (Ephesians 4:7–16). These gifts serve the growth and maturity of the whole community.

The goal is not individual accomplishment but shared transformation—each member contributing to the body so that it builds itself up in love. This is explored in Gifts Given to the Church.

7. A Life Shaped by the Spirit

Walking worthy is possible because believers are strengthened by the Spirit (Ephesians 3:16). The Spirit renews the inner life, shapes desires, and empowers Christlike practices.

This reflects Willard’s emphasis on inner transformation—“the renovation of the heart”—where the Spirit reshapes will, thoughts, and actions so that the life of Christ becomes more natural in us.

8. Daily Practices of Love, Light, and Wisdom

Paul shows that walking worthy is lived out in ordinary moments.

• Love guides motives.

• Light reveals what is good and true.

• Wisdom helps believers discern how to live well.

9. The Goal: Christlikeness

Paul ultimately describes walking worthy as growing into the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). This growth is communal and continuous. The church becomes a living expression of Christ’s character—his love, patience, wisdom, and peace.

Discipleship writers like Eugene Peterson speak of this as “a long obedience in the same direction.” Walking worthy is not an event but a way of life shaped over time.

FAQs

Does walking worthy mean earning God’s favor? No. The calling is rooted in grace. The walk is a response to what God has already given.

Is this mostly about individual discipleship? It includes personal transformation but is primarily communal—unity, patience, forgiveness, and shared growth.

How do spiritual gifts relate to walking worthy? Gifts support the growth and maturity of the whole body, helping believers live into their calling.

Is walking worthy about perfection? It is about direction, not perfection—growing into Christ’s character day by day.

Works Consulted

Barth, Markus. Ephesians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Yale Bible Commentary. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974.

Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines. San Francisco: HarperOne, 1988.

Peterson, Eugene H. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.Downers Grove: IVP, 1980.