Behavior Befitting a Christian

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  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 one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” –Ephesians 4:29-32 (ESV.  Read Ephesians 4:17-32).

These verses from Ephesians are part of a passage in which Paul is setting forth the characteristics and behavior of a Christian.  “By their fruits you shall know them,”  Christ taught.  And Paul, who was instructing the believers at Ephesus (and subsequently Christians everywhere) in how to live the new life in Christ, gave some very firm advice on how a Christian should live a separate and distinctive life of holiness.

Watch what you say.  Our words should not corrupt but build up and should convey grace to those who hear.  All gossip, idle talk, vain repetitions, cursing and slander should be far removed from a Christian’s talk.  We all know that it is easy to hear vain talk, and a temptation to pass on tidbits of gossip that may or may not be true but certainly can harm the persons about whom these are told.  Paul says firmly, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths.”  He had just admonished in verse 25 to “put away falsehood.”  How we talk is a measure of our Christian commitment.  James also warned against the tongue and the damage it can do:  “From the same mouth come blessings and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:10).

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.”  Our sin “grieves”—brings sorrow to—the Holy Spirit.  His mark upon and work in the life of the Christian is to “seal” or designate, as though marked by the assurance of God’s presence.  God pours out His Holy Spirit on all of His children as a guarantee (an earnest) of their share in the kingdom of Heaven.  Believers are the Lord’s especially treasured possession, kept for the day of redemption from this world of trouble and sin and anticipating glorification .It matters how we live here.  The Holy Spirit is an indwelling presence to lead us to live lives different from the world.

Paul says the New Life has certain behaviors squelched.  These are wrath and anger and clamor and slander…and malice.”  These are all characteristics to which we are prone in a worldly state.  But with cultivation of the virtues of gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and love, we can overcome the ulterior behaviors that characterize unredeemed persons.  We must make decided efforts to put off these behaviors unbecoming to a Christ-follower.

Then Paul gives the opposite of worldly behavior.  He urges “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”  Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).  The behavior befitting a Christian takes diligence, prayer and practice.  It takes remembering that we are different from the world because we belong to Christ. And the Holy Spirit Himself, whom we are not to grieve by falling into sin, is beside us to guide us into truth and goodness.  Thank God for His ever-present help in assisting us to live a changed and different life in Christ!

A Word for the Wise

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom…But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” –James 3:13, 17-18 (ESV).

I think there is hardly a one among us who does not wish to be wise. Oftentimes we read and think upon the Proverbs (most attributed to the sage Solomon, who reigned as King of Israel for about 40 years around 1,000 BC). His writings hold immeasurable expressions of wisdom. I, for one, am very fond of quotations. I have quotation dictionaries and am known to write down in journals quotations that strike me as apt and wise. I have even tried my own hand at writing memorable quotations, but I must say without great success. According to James, believed by scholars to be the half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, wisdom is “from above,”—his way of stating that wisdom comes as a gift from God. And that wisdom bestowed by God has extremely desirable characteristics. It is “pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” We can pursue knowledge, learn facts and accrue an education, but I like to think that the ability to apply what we learn lies within the area of that often evasive realm called wisdom. Paul wrote to Timothy that those who had leadership roles in the church (and, I think we can apply this to wherever we work) have responsibilities relative to wisdom: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).

Would you like to grow wiser in this new year? I think most of us would agree that would be a good goal toward which to strive. Again, the Apostle Paul, in his writings, stated a means whereby we might improve upon our standing in wisdom and experience: “Through Him (Jesus Christ) we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:2-5).

It is significant that when Solomon was inaugurated King of Israel, his prayer to God was that he be filled with wisdom. “Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” (2 Chronicles 1:10). He did not ask for wealth, fame or a powerful kingdom. Could it be that he knew already if he could exercise the wisdom of God, these other achievements would be possible? Wisdom and discernment are needed in our day to follow God’s way so that we will not be detracted by many devious teachings that would lead us astray from His truths. Returning to James’s teachings, we find this encouraging word: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5, ESV). It is good to pray the prayers written in the Word of God. By so doing, we have advanced assurance that we are praying in the Lord’s will. We can pray confidently for wisdom. God wants to answer that prayer.