Thursday after the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 5, 2020 by under
Scripture: Ephesians 4:29-32 (NKJV)
4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Devotion
Just like any family, and because we are poor, miserable sinners, we as the family of God can get on each other’s nerves. We are tempted to be filled with bitterness, wrath, anger, and the desire to speak evil of one another. There should not proceed out of our mouths any corrupt word, but only what is necessary for the edification of each other. We are not to tear each other down, but we are to build each other up. We are to bear with one another’s sins and transgressions. This comes from understanding that the person next to us is also filled with sin like us.
St. Paul tells the Ephesians that they should be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as the Lord God forgave them on account of the Lord Jesus Christ and His works and merits. This is on Whom our focus should be. It should be on the Lord Jesus and what He has done for us in order to make us a family of the Lord God.
When everyone understands that all of us need the correcting words of the Law, that all of us need to be reminded daily that we are poor, miserable sinners, it is easier to forgive as we have been forgiven. Certainly, there are times when some individual may need further encouragement in this fact. He should be treated with the same patience that our Lord has for us, with the intent to bring him back into the household of faith.
Prayer: Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy household, the Church, in continual godliness, that through Thy protection She may be free from all adversities and devoutly given to serve Thee in good works, to the glory of Thy Name; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
