In Ephesians 1-3, we learned of our identity in Christ, who we are. My hope is that you see that as a believer in Christ you are a vital part of the church. You are important and have a purpose in the church. There are no outsiders in God’s family.

Now, we move on to the practical beginning in Ephesians 4. We are going to learn how to live in this new unified body of God’s church. The Ephesians were Gentiles that were learning that they were on equal footing with the Jews. I am interested to see what we can learn and what we can apply as chronically ill/disabled who are as much a part of the church as the currently-abled people.

When I walk through the chapter as an overview, I do a couple things. The first thing is to look at the headings in a variety of versions followed by writing out the passage a couple times.

Looking at the breakdowns of the passage in various versions, we see:

• NKJV: “Walk in Unity” verses 1-6, “Spiritual Gifts” verses 7-16, “The New Man” verses 17-24, “Do Not Grieve the Spirit” verses 25-32
• NASB 1995: “Unity of the Spirit” verses 1-16, “The Christian’s Walk” verses 17-32
• ESV: “Unity in the Body of Christ” verses 1-16, “The New Life” verses 17-32
• HCSB: “Unity and Diversity in the Body of Christ” verses 1-16, “The New Life” verses 17-32

What stands out to me is the unity in Christ and learning how to walk as Christians in this new life. Did you notice that unity and diversity can co-exist? God uses our differences to fill out the body of Christ. This new life is something that means we must change from our old life. (Profound, I know.) It means that our perspective must change.

As we walk through this passage, I hope that we will see ways we can serve in the body of Christ, serve and live in unity. I am excited about our journey.