Ouch. The Toes!
“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.”—Ephesians 4:31-32 NASB
In our
culture today, as well as some of us within the Body of Christ, these two
verses can smash some toes. I know that for me, I have struggled with being hateful
towards people who come across as arrogant, better-than or snobbish. When I was
younger, I straight up clamored against and was deliberately irreverent towards
those who tried to impose their will on my life. Where I grew up, we called
that having a little buck in us.
We all
struggle with these things on some level. Whether it is the resentment toward a
person who gets to work a part-time job while we have to hold down three jobs and
are killing ourselves to get by; or being envious that someone has a gift or
talent that we don’t and talking smack about them to feel better about
ourselves; or becoming bitter because we are not the center of attention or had
an idea first so we then speak ill about someone behind their backs so as to
detract from the good of what they are doing in their life.
Or,
how about the way we post on social media, or chain messages?…clamor is actually
defined as a crying, an outcry, a notifying tumult… as believers, let us not be
deceived into thinking that we are pleasing God when we air all of our grievances
with a person on social media for everyone to read. That is not the Biblical
model for handling a problem with a fellow believer. Further, while some of us
ask for prayer because we believe in prayer, some of us like to use prayer requests
as a way to spill on other peoples issues as if this makes what we are doing
okay!
God
knows your heart. If you are finding ways to spread your malice and bitterness,
by slandering and gossiping about others through “just saying” and
prayer requests, you are not resting in the Word of God because He clearly
tells us NOT to do these things. In fact, He tells us to be kind,
tenderhearted and forgiving toward each other, just as God has forgiven us. Have
we forgotten that we are to forgive as God has forgiven us? If we hold onto
unforgiveness, we will also be unforgiven by God. That is pretty clear in
Matthew 6:14-15.
Further, let us not deceive ourselves. If you say you have forgiven
but are still bringing it up, that shows you have not let it go. You have not
forgiven. That unforgiveness can then lead to bitterness, envy and more slander
as you attack everything that person you forgave sets out to do. If we are
doing this and call ourselves believers, we need to repent.
So,
what can you do to be in line with the Word? First, be kind to people, be
gentle and affectionate in the way you treat others. Don’t badmouth people! Don’t
hate on people because you simply don’t agree with them. Also, consider the
company you keep. If you are dealing with a non-believer, love them through it
and try to guide the conversation to positive places and a more positive
perspective. If it is you or a professed believer, repentance is necessary.
We can
achieve putting away slander, bitterness and wrath, and not being contributors
to malice, envy and the airing of other people’s stuff by choosing to let go of
pettiness, letting go of being in control of other people’s lives and surrendering
the need to manipulate so that others are viewed in a negative, while we are seen
in a positive. We can choose to look for the good in the situation and in
others, while lovingly going to those who wrong us using the Biblical Model in
Matthew 18:15-17.
I
know. These can be tough Scriptures to look at and look at ourselves through.
Where can you improve? How might you be guilty of not abiding in God’s
instruction?
Until
Next Time
God
Bless
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