Thursday, March 25, 2021
The apostle Paul describes positive qualities that should characterize a life that pleases God.
Ephesians 4:32 . . . be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (NLT)
Often as Christ-followers we’ve got the “don’t” part of Christianity down! If Christ has commanded not to do something, we don’t do it. The question remains: do we have the “doing” part clearly expressed in our lives? Christ-followers get the reputation for being negative because our spiritual growth is not reflecting the winsome, attractive, others-oriented character of Christ.
When you “put off” a life-style that displeases God, you’ve got to follow through by “putting on” the character of Christ! But how? God’s Spirit lives within each Christ-follower and one of the Spirit’s functions is to energize you to live like Christ. What does that look like? Being kind: a courteous manner of life that desires the happiness of others; Tender-hearted: a compassionate life that especially cares for the restoration of those who have fallen in the faith; Forgiving one another: if you hesitate in this, pause a moment to consider the rest of the verse: “as . . . Christ has forgiven you”.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.