We are coming to the end of our passage today. I knew it would be a long walk through it, but hadn’t anticipated eight days. It has been good.

Talk about polar opposites. Look at today’s verses (KJV):

³¹ Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Oh, how easy it is for us to be bitter, angry, shouting, and slandering those who hurt us or our loved ones or those who simply don’t meet our expectations. It is easy to let that hurt fester into true bitterness which colors everything we do.

For today, we are going to focus on verse 32 and the positive although we have included links if you would like to study the old man characteristics further. These are things we are to put away from us.

God has another way in the new man, the new person we are in Christ.

³² And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

• Kind: I believe we think of kindness as being “nice” or “mild” or “pleasant.” When I looked at the link indicated, I was surprised to see that in this context it also means “fit, fit for use, useful.” This takes the meaning of the verse to a new level. We are to be fit for use for others.
• One to Another: This means that we do it for each other. The link provided shows that it is to be mutual, going both ways. We are to treat each other with kindness.
• Tenderhearted: With being tenderhearted, we need to be sympathetic. This is the same word as “pitiful” in 1 Peter 3:8. We need to care about each other’s problems.
• Forgiving: Forgiveness. We need to forgive or pardon one another. We pardon. It doesn’t mean that the hurt goes away, but that we let go of it. We restore the other person in grace. Notice that we are to forgive as God has forgiven us for Christ’s sake. This is incredibly important:
  • Christ died for us before we asked, while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8)
  • God forgives us when we ask. (1 John 1:9)
  • Christ forgave those who were crucifying Him. (Luke 23:34)
  • Christ instructed His disciples to forgive 70×7. (Matthew 18:20, also Luke 17:3-4)
  • Many more instances of Christ’s forgiveness to us.

What a difference the new man makes! We are to be different. The difference is not easy and will look very different to the world around us. We cannot live out this difference without Him.

It has been quite a walk through Ephesians 4:22-32. What conviction and challenge it has brought to my own heart.

Tomorrow, we will begin looking at Ephesians 5. See you then.