Today's Meditation
Read Ephesians 4:17-32
17Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. 18They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. 19They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20That is not the way you learned Christ! 21For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. 22You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 25So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not make room for the devil. 28Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
This passage is about how Christians are to behave in a world that operates, thinks, believes, and behaves differently. Christians are to behave in a particular way. Why? Because we learned a new way through Christ.
We were taught to put away our former lives, our old selves, our corruption and delusion. We were taught to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling with one another and slander, all malice. Instead, we were taught to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving one another.
Having behaved badly and being called out for that behavior, I remember hearing a Christian tell the other person, "Well, I'm not perfect, just forgiven." That is what I'd call cheap grace and just a pathetic excuse for not living up to the higher standards of Christian living. Of course, no one is perfect, but that doesn't excuse bad behavior. We, as Christians, are called to be holy. We are called to a higher standard. And if we don't always live up to that standard; be humble, be gracious - own it, ask for forgiveness and work VERY HARD at living a life of integrity.
I know it isn't easy. But it is worthy. May God's blessing be upon you this day.
Over the past two months, I've spent a great deal of time searching YouTube for appropriate music/videos to compliment the daily meditations and for our Sunday morning worship. I came across this video/music and although it doesn't have much to do with today's passage, decided to share it. The visuals, the lyrics, the message seem fitting for what we are currently enduring - waiting for God to do a new thing, to make a way where seems to be no way.
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