Ephesians 4:31-32
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
It seems that God wants me to learn more about grace... it keeps coming up from different sources. Has God ever done that in your life? He surrounds you with a message or a verse from totally unrelated sources? It's kind of like layers of an onion, He just keeps peeling back the layers to reveal the next one. This seems to be one BIG onion!
Anyway, that has been the case with grace for me lately. The most recent source (layer) came this week in our Sunday adult fellowship class. I am so glad I was there to get the message, Lord knows I have a long way to grow to become a conduit of His grace. Will you walk through this lesson with me? Here we go...
Briefly our teacher pointed out that in verse 31 there was a negative progression.
Step One: attitude = bitterness (resentment) which we allow to fester in our hearts and minds.
Step Two: disposition = anger/wrath here is the first visible evidence of our inward festering.
Step Three: speech = clamor/slander, now the inward issue bursts out like a volcano erupting.
Step Four: action = malice/evil, finally what is in our hearts pours out in a sinful manner.
Next he pointed out that the first word in that same verse is "let". He said that in the Greek it is a passive word meaning that it is done to us, that it is a work of the Spirit to be done to us. Our part is to let it be swept away from us. We must quit clutching to our bitterness which is at the root of the problem.
The encouragement and application came next. He showed our class the godly replacement in verse 32. The most enlightening thing was that the word translated "forgiving" is from the root word grace, he pointed out that "being gracious" was a better translation. The idea being gracious includes forgiveness but is broader. Graciousness is the antithesis of bitterness.
Here are the replacements he listed for us.
1) In place of bitterness display a graciousness of attitude.
2) In place of anger cultivate a gracious disposition.
3) In place of shouting and abusive speech develop a habit of gracious speech.
The reason for this change?
~We are recipients of the lavish grace God manifested toward us in Christ (Eph. 1:7-8)
~We are bought with a price and we are not our own (I Cor. 6:20; 7:23)
~While we were yet sinners, enemies of God, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8)
~We are to be gracious toward others because God through Christ has been gracious to us (Eph. 4:32)
You see, it is HIS grace given to us in order to pour it out on others in His name and... He requires it of us.
Oh that I would become a free flowing conduit of His grace to those around me, not just to those I love but especially to those who are hard to love. Unfortunately I think I must also fall in the "hard to love" category too which means I need God's grace to be demonstrated toward me by you too. Praise be to God that although with men many things are impossible, with God all things are possible! (Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27)
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
It seems that God wants me to learn more about grace... it keeps coming up from different sources. Has God ever done that in your life? He surrounds you with a message or a verse from totally unrelated sources? It's kind of like layers of an onion, He just keeps peeling back the layers to reveal the next one. This seems to be one BIG onion!
Anyway, that has been the case with grace for me lately. The most recent source (layer) came this week in our Sunday adult fellowship class. I am so glad I was there to get the message, Lord knows I have a long way to grow to become a conduit of His grace. Will you walk through this lesson with me? Here we go...
Briefly our teacher pointed out that in verse 31 there was a negative progression.
Step One: attitude = bitterness (resentment) which we allow to fester in our hearts and minds.
Step Two: disposition = anger/wrath here is the first visible evidence of our inward festering.
Step Three: speech = clamor/slander, now the inward issue bursts out like a volcano erupting.
Step Four: action = malice/evil, finally what is in our hearts pours out in a sinful manner.
Next he pointed out that the first word in that same verse is "let". He said that in the Greek it is a passive word meaning that it is done to us, that it is a work of the Spirit to be done to us. Our part is to let it be swept away from us. We must quit clutching to our bitterness which is at the root of the problem.
The encouragement and application came next. He showed our class the godly replacement in verse 32. The most enlightening thing was that the word translated "forgiving" is from the root word grace, he pointed out that "being gracious" was a better translation. The idea being gracious includes forgiveness but is broader. Graciousness is the antithesis of bitterness.
Here are the replacements he listed for us.
1) In place of bitterness display a graciousness of attitude.
2) In place of anger cultivate a gracious disposition.
3) In place of shouting and abusive speech develop a habit of gracious speech.
The reason for this change?
~We are recipients of the lavish grace God manifested toward us in Christ (Eph. 1:7-8)
~We are bought with a price and we are not our own (I Cor. 6:20; 7:23)
~While we were yet sinners, enemies of God, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8)
~We are to be gracious toward others because God through Christ has been gracious to us (Eph. 4:32)
You see, it is HIS grace given to us in order to pour it out on others in His name and... He requires it of us.
Oh that I would become a free flowing conduit of His grace to those around me, not just to those I love but especially to those who are hard to love. Unfortunately I think I must also fall in the "hard to love" category too which means I need God's grace to be demonstrated toward me by you too. Praise be to God that although with men many things are impossible, with God all things are possible! (Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27)
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