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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
“Be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 (KJV)
God’s word through the Apostle Paul, admonishes us to be kind and considerate to all we meet. The person ahead of us at the grocery store check-out line sees we have one or two items and tells us to go ahead of him or her. The member of the gas crew, working at a neighboring house, helps you get out of your driveway. The neighbor lets you use the water hose because his house has no outside spigot and you don’t have a garden hose. In return, you let them water their plants, using water from your spigot. These examples show kindness extended to others.
When we come to Jesus, we ask Him to forgive us of our sins. When we mess up, we ask Him to cleanse our hearts of the sin we harbor. He does these deeds because of His love for us, His children.
The entire fourth chapter speaks of the believers being unified—being one in the Lord. We might want to study this passage to discover how we can understand better what we are to do as we travel though our earthly home.
Sometimes, we have to institute the process of forgiveness. This act of our forgiving someone who has hurt us happens for the sake of Christ as well as our own.. When this happens we have to ask Jesus to help us so that we do not stumble.
“Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.”1 Peter 3:9 (NLT)
Do you remember a time where you got into a fight with one of your friends? The friend called you a bad name? In your humanity you responded with harsher words. Your friend counters what you said with more hurtful words. Again, you spew yet worse words.I heard a pastor paint a word scene like the one I described. The conclusion we all came to was that the argument has to stop at some point.
As Christians we know the war of words and names has to stop somewhere. We have to ‘nip it . . . nip it in the bud.”1
Jesus commands us to love one another. He told the disciples they had to forgive a person who wronged them not just seven times but seventy times seven.
- A phrase spoken by Barney Fife (Don Knotts)
On The Andy Griffith Show. (Season 3Episode 14 12/21/2014)
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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