25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Our lives need to be transparent to one another. Disunity, even the appearance of disunity, speaks volumes about us and the Savior we serve to those we lead. Disagreements should be handled swiftly and biblically. Allowing them to linger only undermines our work and gives opportunity to the enemy to hinder the work appointed to us.
ReplyDeleteThink of the welfare and needs of others before i grasp for my own share for the day. It will make me a better person.
ReplyDeleteAs believers we should be truthful with one another and all disagreements should be handled directly (Matt. 18). Verse 32 is a great reminder for us to be graceful, kind, and most of all forgiving to one another.
ReplyDeleteWe both struggle with being angry and not sinning in it. But I think the key to that and the key to having no corrupting talk (which comes in various forms) is to be controlled by the Spirit at the thought level so you are controlled by the Spirit at the action level automatically.
ReplyDeleteDoes every word that comes out in conversations with others build up to greater faith? If not we are missing the goal of that conversation.