The Greatest Gift Of All

Hello friends welcome back to chapter 4 of Ephesians. Yesterday I talked about the first half and today I will finish up this chapter.

Verses 17-24, 'So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desire; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.' Let God soften your heart and change your way of life. Toss away your old self and it's desires. 'Be made new in the attitude of your mind.' In Colossians we talked a lot about attitude. Paul spelled out the recipe for the right attitude in that book and He does the same in this one, towards the end.

Verses 26-27, 'Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.' This reminds me of the most common advice you get when you first get married. Don't go to bed angry. It's good advice. A little difficult sometimes when you have the usual marital squabble right before bed. I think it's important though. The more you dwell on it, the more the enemy will twist what was said and it could turn into more than just a squabble.

Verse 29, 'Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that may benefit those who listen.' Earlier in this chapter Paul said to keep the peace. You do that by treating people with respect and teaching people who need to be taught about the Lord. You can't do that if your words are slander because that doesn't follow the gospel. Build each other up, don't tear each other down. It doesn't do any good. It's a waste of time.

Lastly Verses 31-32, 'Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other.' That is the recipe for a good attitude be kind, forgiving, and compassionate. Love your neighbor. Treat people how you want to be treated. That can ruin a bad attitude really fast.

So this chapter taught us to live life worthy of our calling; to be respectful, forgiving, compassionate and patient; to build ourselves up with faith and knowledge so that we may mature spiritually: to become rooted in Christ so we aren't swayed by false teachings; to let God soften our hearts and change our mindsets; to build each other up; to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and slander; to love each other and that God has given us gifts of the spirit.

God doesn't expect you to run a gospel marathon each day. He wants you to be kind and share His teachings. Also to have a relationship with Him. He wants you to have a full life and an everlasting after life with Him. So why do people run from the gospel? From God? Sometimes people act like they're going to get whips to the back for however many sins they've committed. But God is full of grace. Maybe people just don't want to hand over their control? Regardless, we know we can't bring everyone to the Lord. He has already decided who will follow Him. All we can do is sow a seed in whoever we can and see who it grows in and who it doesn't. Sometimes we may never know if the seed will grow. That's between them and God. But smile today guys. Smile if you have God in your life because not everyone has that privilege. I'm smiling today because I do. The greatest gift of all.