Ephesians – Chapter 4

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Ephesians 4:28 – Talk about a changed life. While many of us possibly can’t relate with the label of thief, we all can see how drastic of a change of life took place here. That not only is the one stealing stoping stealing, but now is working so they can give out to those in need. This is going from a purely selfish life to a purely selfless life. That’s a huge change that only took place because of Jesus. That type of change in lives is what this passage is highlighting. So like with the thief, if you’re a new creation because of Jesus, what needs to change in your story that hasn’t yet? What sin are you still entertaining? What hurt are you still holding onto? What are you holding back from changing? God is leading you towards change because He wants you to become more like Jesus. What needs to change in your story that hasn’t yet? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 540

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:15-16 – Of course we are to grow in our faith, but do we see here the area of growth Paul is centering this passage around? It’s the growth of unity within the church. That we can test our personal spiritual development by how deeply we invest in the health of other believers and the nurturing of unity within the church. We see here Jesus is the one that holds the church together and we are then ones to respond in love to each other so the growth can take place. A mature believer craves unity amongst the church. They cringe and detest at anything that would seek to break apart what God has put together. Here then is a good time to check our heart. When was the last time we sought out a way to bring believers more together? Do we remove or add to the things that may cause division? When someone creates distance between themselves and the church, how does that affect us? If seeking and creating avenues for unity is a sign of spiritual maturity, then let’s get after it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1594

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ³²Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32 – We see the direction in earlier verses of this chapter to put off, or take off, our old self. To not walk in the ways we used to before we met Jesus. The final two verses of this chapter help unpack what that actually means and how we could actually do what God is calling us to do in this chapter. Every kind of bitterness we have needs to be let go of. Our fierce, never-ceasing anger and actions of letting that anger out needs to be put away. Any sort of destructive way of speaking about people and things needs to stop. Rather our attitude toward each other should be displaying kindness and warmth. And above all we should have a heart willing to forgive those that have wronged us. For God forgave us of all our wrongs we did towards Him, we then who have been forgiven so greatly ought to give out forgiveness too. This is putting off the old self. Love instead of hate. Forgiveness instead of grudge. Kindness instead of wrath. Any time then that we wonder what our life then should look like now as a believer in Jesus, just look to the example of Jesus’ life we get from scripture. For God loves you as you are, and you can come to Him as you are, but He is calling every follower of His to be changed more into the likeness of Him as they follow Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2399