Be Kind To One Another.....I'm Begging You

Ephesians 4:32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. NLT

It's not up to you or me to make sure others are nice. It's up to you and me to make sure our own personal behavior reflects what we say we believe.

Talking (what we say) is part of 'walking the walk.' The very first verse I ever remember my mom having me memorize was Ephesians 4:29 'Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.' KJV

As Christians we are required to only say things that 'minister grace unto the hearers.' I'm speaking to myself mostly. Side note: please don't ever think that this blog is a 'preachy preachy, I'm better than you' soap box. I deal with self loathing every hour and have to remind myself that 'there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ,' every time the loathing starts.

If we claim to be followers of Christ, what we say to unbelievers is what they think Christ would say to them if He were to walk up to them on the street or at Arby's. I'm preaching to myself as well; I ask God in almost every prayer I pray to 'hold me, and to keep me from myself,' meaning: keep me from the desires of my sinful nature. I can in no way, form, or fashion do it on my own. Left to myself I'm mean, condescending, selfish, judgmental, prideful, etc. Just ask my husband. BUT....with the help of the Holy Ghost (hallelujerrr) I am a much improved version of me. That being said...

Let's help each other keep our stinkin mouths shut be gentle with our words, or even keep our web talk in check. To quote a good friend, 'In our day you had to get in someone's face.' It's comical, but true. The internet has given this generation super human opinion, and the false courage to say whatever comes to their mind. We've got to stop.

This is all meant for Christians. Don't go bashing someone over the head with this blog if they don't believe in Christ. I learned a while back that if I am the one reading or listening to a sermon, not to think the whole time 'oh, so-and-so really needs to hear this message.' We miss the whole point if we're constantly thinking that we don't need to hear what's being said for our own growth.

I love you all, thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog. I truly appreciate it.

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind). AMP

This blog has been brought to you by: The book of Ephesians, keeping Christians in check since approximately A.D. 60

Late Night Thoughts.....

Matthew 7:12 'Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.'

Sounds simple enough, so why do we have such a hard time with obeying the 'Golden Rule?' If we back up a bit to verse 1 it says 'Do not judge others...' These two verses go hand in hand, in my opinion. I've never met anyone who wants to truly be judged by another human being.

There's a popular saying (that really gets on my nerves) and it goes 'Only God Can Judge Me!' While this is true I wonder if we really understand what it would mean to truly be judged by Almighty God. To be judged by a magnificent and HOLY God is terrifying to me. In the OT when Moses asks to see God, He only agrees to let Moses see His back, because for a Holy God to come in contact with filthy flesh would have been the end of Moses. But even in the 'gloom and doom' OT God still had our backs (pun intended.) His grace was evident even in the harshest of times.

Psalm 103:8 says 'The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.'

This is good news.....for me anyway. I tend to let my anger get the better of me more than I'd like to admit. I tend to judge and have to quickly catch myself and stop. I tend to put my foot-in-mouth far to often because I think I'm more knowledgable than I really am. To sum up my ramblings I would say: Don't judge, you hardly ever know the ENTIRE story; treat others how you want to be treated; and remember, always remember, that God is a loving God above all. He wants good for us (all of us) and while he is a jealous God, He is jealous because He wants us and wants what's best for us. He sent His Son, Jesus, to save us from our sins. And this next part is only my opinion (so you can take it or leave it) but not only did He come to save us from our sin, but also to save us from ourselves and others who more than likely always choose to judge/hate/criticize/belittle/put down before choosing love. So please, let's choose to love, above all else.

I'll remind you, and please remind me.