WHO YOU ARE CHILD OF GOD… LOOKING AT EPHESIANS 4
“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”-Ephesians 4:31.
If we are to keep from grieving the Holy Spirit in our lives there are some things we must get rid of. Removing these things from our lives will lighten our load… and will make the testimony of our lives reflect the life of Jesus. This is a good list to stay as far away from as possible. Look at it! Bitterness is an irritable state of mind which produces harsh and hard opinions of others. Wrath and anger are outbursts of passion. Clamor means the bold assertion of supposed rights and grievances. Evil speaking is blasphemy, but it also means all kinds of slander and malice. All of these things need to be put away from we followers of Jesus.
I hope you noticed that this list is the way the world deals with issues and just life in general. It seems the more bombastic and cruel a person can be in today’s world the more admired they become. There is little civility today… yet that is what we are called to…even, and maybe especially so, when we are in disagreement with each other. I have even seen people try to promote that people who use vulgar and ungodly language are somehow demonstrating their great intellect. Jesus stood against evil and injustice all during His ministry… but He never lost His testimony by giving into bitterness, wrath, clamor, or speaking evil. As the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in us, and we do not grieve Him, the world will see the reality of Jesus in us. It is too easy to give into the methodology and ungodliness of the world…but we are called to walk in the Holy Spirit, and He will produce the fruit of the Spirit in us… and in Him we will glorify Christ in our lives.