Day 5. Ephesians 4:31-32

This was another passage that I first came across in Bangladesh. We studied the book of Ephesians together as a team over the course of the trip, and many of the study sessions (as I recall) were often filled with tension and arguments over interpretation and emphasis of the passage at hand. Truthfully, I misremember whether or not the study session that included these verses was tension-filled, but I do remember being very relieved to find these words in scripture.

I’m typically very non-confrontational, and there are many instances where I can only find myself wondering why a topic is even the subject of intense debate, rather than joining a side. This is not to say that confrontation and conflict are all bad, because in many other instances they are good, and necessary.

Up until this point, there is a lot in this letter about breaking down walls of hostility between different people groups (gentiles and Jews), and living together as one Body of Christ. Paul explains the implications of this revolutionary idea in reasonable detail, and I imagine that some of the contents in his letter to the church at Ephesus probably met with some pushback, particularly from Jewish Christians who weren’t sold on the idea of sharing salvation with non-Jews. Regardless of those implications, and that pushback, Paul summarizes how we are required to live graciously as one body of believers, regardless of ethnic background or any other plethora of interpersonal variables, in these last two verses of this chapter:

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.

I’ve seriously considered getting this tattooed somewhere on my body (I’m actually dead serious—betcha didn’t see that one coming) because it is something that I will always need to remember. I harbour bitterness in my heart like there’s been a massive sale on some product I don’t use—I feel a need to have it, though it just takes up space and doesn’t accomplish anything. As soon as I let go of bitterness towards one person or thing, I feel a compulsive need to replace it with bitterness towards something else. It’s not a good thing. I need this reminder to put away those negative thoughts and feelings and replace them with the grace and tenderheartedness that I have chosen to accept as a gift from Jesus, and to give them away as freely as he has given them to me.

Salvation is for all. Grace is for all. Kindness and tenderheartedness are for all. Forgiveness is for all. It’s easy to accept that as truth on the surface, but deep down, I think we all have reservations and need this reminder.