1.3.12

Ephesians 4:31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

My Thoughts

I love that God supplies us with His grace to make it possible to do anything He ask us to do. Here God ask us to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, slander and all type of evil behavior. God will send down His grace to make us able to rid ourselves of all these things.  Our part is to to ask for God to help us... we need to make ourselves aware of these behaviors so that we can work at doing what God ask and God will send down His grace to make us able.

I am finding that I can't get rid of one behavior without replacing it with another... in this scripture God give us exactly what we can replace our bad behaviors with good things. We can replace our bitterness with kindness...we can replace anger and rage by being tenderhearted... instead of being harsh toward one another and talking about each other we can be forgiving toward one another... if we find that hard to do we can remind ourselves that God forgave us of everything we have done... and God gives us His grace to forgive anybody of anything. 

We have all met bitter people, people filled with rage and anger...the longer we know them the worse their life seems to get... the harder they are to be around.  Then there are those people that are always kind, tenderhearted.... that seem to forgive everybody everything...they are like a magnet drawing people in. They seem to light up a room.... they make you feel good just to be in their presence..they are such a joy in our lives. This is just another example of how our lives improve when we listen to God and do what He ask.  God wants our lives to be overflowing... His word gives us the tools to make it so!  His grace gives us the ability to use those tools.