Scripture:
Ephesians 4:25-32 NKJV
[25] Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. [26] “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, [27] nor give place to the devil. [28] Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. [29] Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. [30] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. [31] Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. [32] And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Observation:
Anyone who has been reading what I believe the Holy Spirit leads me to write for any length of time knows that this portion of scripture comes to my fingers somewhat regularly. It’s very important to pay attention to. The book of Ephesians was written by Paul to the church in Ephesus. I would say the most commonly memorized portion would be in chapter 6. However, that does not lessen the impact and power that makes up this letter. Paul starts right out of the gate in chapter one, telling us GOD has already given us every spiritual blessing we need. Throughout the entire book, he prepares us for what is said in chapter 6. The bottom line is we are in a war, and our opposition would like nothing more than to see us burn in hell. Here in chapter 4, Paul lays the groundwork for what he is going to bring out in chapter 6. So let’s take a good look. What I see in verse 25 opens up where most of the problems start. Don’t lie to others now. Let’s keep in mind that Paul is speaking to the church in Ephesus. So he is speaking to believers in Christ. That is why he says we are all members of one another. The body of Christ is the church. So speaking the truth in love is a vital part of keeping the enemy out of our safe zone. In verse 26, Paul moves quickly to how the enemy plays games with us. When the truth is spoken and the love is missing, our emotions get involved, and we can react rather than act. What Paul is saying is we have to guard against that. Moving on quickly to verse 26, there is a hard warning to deal with anger in an appropriate manner, not letting the sun go down on it, therefore giving the devil a foot hold or keeping his toe in the door. Anger and bitterness are how the enemy drives wedges in the door of the church. To come in and reek havoc. Verse 28 is one that changed my life and allowed me to see who I really was. Let the thief no longer steal, but work hard so that he has something to give. Honestly, that’s what repentance looks like when you are sorry for your actions it will show in your behavior. The next several verses are the counter actions to letting your emotions have control. Verse 30 convicts my heart from something that recently happened. So I believe we should look at it. Let’s grace guide your words. Truth and grace equal love. The key is love. Verse 31 are all tools of the enemy, bitterness, clamor, wrath, anger, and evil speaking, malice. These are all ways that the enemy comes in and separates theos that should be able to work together driving a wedge between them. Now on to verse 32, ” be kind tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as christ has forgiven you.
Application:
If you are new to the SOAP and / or your walk with christ. It time to buckle up. Yesterday, we touched on how our emotions can misled us, and then throughout the day, I let the emotions of myself and someone else determine how I spoke and acted. Most of you know that this SOAP is how I live my faith out loud. When I am wrong, I admit it, and my actions in some of what went on in my life yesterday were wrong. The Bible says confess your sins one to another so that you may be healed. The Bible also tells us to be sober minded. Now that phrase sober minded is often associated with not using drugs or alcohol. But I want to bring to light that those are not the only Intoxicance that exist. Our emotions can get the best of us. Especially anger. It’s something the enemy uses. The crazy thing is that it’s not even the primary emotion anger is usually driven by fear or hurt…. disappointment or some other emotion. The problem is that when we get angry, we do one of 2 things we shut down and not deal with it, or we say a bunch of stuff we don’t mean. Either way, we sin when we are angry and don’t deal with it properly. Here is the thing the enemy uses our emotions as a playground. If he can get you to be bitter and angry and shut down, he can hinder your prayer life and cause problems everywhere else in your life as well. We read yesterday that the heart is deceitfully wicked. The point that was made is that the heart refers to our emotions. Our emotions are dangerous and can be very intoxicating. I’m sure by now you have heard the term emotional high and emotional low. Well, that term was put together for a reason. When we allow our emotions to control how we act to others, we are not sober-minded, and when we let the sun set on our anger without dealing with it properly, we are allowing the enemy to not only have a foot hold but create bitterness and hinder our prayer life. I don’t know about you, but I want my prayers answered. I don’t have room for the enemy to come in and have his way. If Jesus would have let HIS emotions make HIS decision for HIM, we would still be looking for a savior. We have to be able to talk to those whom we walk this out with. The thing is, we get the choice on how far this goes. Setting our emotions to the side in the moment is not the easy part, but it’s a must. When we shut down or lash out, we create more problems. Not less problem. I know this from experience. Listen, I’m not saying I’m good at this. But I am saying it’s not going to happen today. Understanding that this is war and the enemy says that all is fare in war. We need to count on the fact that he WILL use our emotions against us if we let him. When we choose grace over anger, we choose light over dark. We have to learn to give others the same grace we were given. Remember that love is the key that opens the windows of heaven, and love consists of two things. Truth+grace=LOVE without one, you do not have the other. Your emotions will lead you down a very dark path. Suit up with the armor, there is a reason it is listed the way it is. When you know the truth of GOD’S word, you will know that the heart will misled you. But grace never will.
Prayer:
Father, you know our hearts. You have tested them and saw the depth of our emotions. Forgive us where we have failed. We know that we fall short and we are not looking for an excuse to do so. That’s not what your grace is about. Help us to see our part and take the right actions to correct it. We do not want bitterness and anger to be a part of our lives. Let us meet others with grace and mercy, yet not leave out the truth. We want to be a reflection of your LOVE putting our flesh to death daily. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen.