March 6, 2010 - Ephesians 4:29 - 5:2 "Rules for a New Life"

The book of Ephesians is devoted to how we, as Christians, are to conduct ourselves within the body of Christ. Written, possibly by Paul, possibly by one of his disciples, it gives basic instruction as to how we should treat each other. This is basic stuff!

"Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Wow. Where to start. Originally I was only going to speak about the first part of this passage, but it just kept going in my heart. I guess a good place to start, though, is the very first sentence. Let no evil talk come out of your mouth... How often during the day do I badmouth somebody? Hopefully not often! But sometimes I think it happens without my recognizing that I've done it. Now, I'm not necessarily talking about gossip here; talking about somebody I know. But what about badmouthing people I don't know? People I hear about on the news? Politicians? Evil-doers I hear about on the radio? Do I have to put my two-cents worth in to the conversation, or should I just button up the lip?

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. I am one-hundred percent certain that when the Holy Spirit looks into my heart what S/He finds there must grieve a lot. I look into my own heart sometimes and I'm not happy with what I find there. I'm full of stuff I'd rather not be full of. I know how I WANT to be - I want to be kind and loving and peaceful and compassionate and truthful and all that other good stuff, but so often I look inside and I'm just not. I'm afraid this part is going to take a lot of work for me.

Put away the anger, etc. Oh yeah. This one hits home as well. I try. Believe me, I do try. But sometimes it's not easy. Being kind and forgiving is a whole lot easier said than done sometimes, yes? When I feel wronged, I carry that around like an albatross strapped to my soul. The wrong sits right at the very tip of my brain and raises its ugly head and spits at me. And then I'm angry all over again. How do I let it go?

Imitate God. Live in love. Sigh... So few of us are Mother Teresa. This is real life, and it's way too easy to get wrapped up in daily life and all the troubles thereof. Imitating God sounds lovely in the abstract, but in the concrete, not so easy to do. This passage reminds me of the "What Would Jesus Do?" message of a few years back. What WOULD He do in this or that situation? Maybe the first order of business is to figure that out before we make any decisions on our own, ya think?

Mary Welchel, from radio's Christian Working Woman program, gave away some bracelets a while back that said T-H-I-N-K. Before speaking one should THINK, and those words meant: Is it Truthful? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind? (I'm not sure about the "I," but I think that's right...) Sounds like good advice to me.

Since I cannot in any way, shape, or form do this, or even attempt this on my own, I have only one "out," and that is prayer. Asking God's help every step of the way. Whenever I catch myself badmouthing somebody, or being unkind, or being resentful or bitter or "wrangling," (and not just out loud, but in my heart as well) I need to just stop, take a breath, and pray.

I believe that God looks at the heart. Yes, He sees our actions, He sees our failures, He sees when we repent and try to do better. He sees when we fail again and again and again at the same old lessons we should have learned a hundred times over. He sees all that. And He forgives us, and loves us anyway. He holds out His hands and says, "It's okay...I believe in you...you'll do better next time. I love you."

God is an encourager of souls. I see my faults, my character defects, my sins, and I know He does too. But I also know that He loves me in spite of them, and that gives me the strength to pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again. And if I need to learn the same lessons over and over and over again, I know I've got a Teacher who is kind and patient and loving. Thank You, Lord.