Ephesians 4:29-32

Paul in these verses lays down a few guidelines for directing our speech. The first is the goal, edification; then the result, imparting grace; then a few no’s: do not grieve the Holy Spirit, put away bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and malice; and on a positive note, be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. From the context I truly to think he is referring mostly to our speech.

I think if everyone took verse 29 and directly applied it to their life, there would be a lot less noise at school. I can see so often that I let corrupt words slip out of my own (or out of another’s) mouth, and if I cut away all unnecessary speech – since Paul does say “necessary edification” – I would certainly be a less talkative person. I hope that doesn’t become something I fear, because giving up some words should seem like a piece of cake in light of the fact that Christ calls us to give up everything. Simply not talking a lot would be easy, and probably provoke some conversations in which I could speak in a gracious and edifying manner. In my experience as a Christian, that opportunity is one of the most invigorating experiences, knowing that you’ll be able to share the gospel with someone. Paul goes from this verse into verse 30, which says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit,” and while he doesn’t specifically refer to speech in this verse, I think this can be taken in a similar manner as “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.” I seriously struggle with this, and whenever I slip up I always treat it like its “no big deal” or “God will just forgive me.” Attitudes like that, though, are what keep me from being close to God. It is a big deal when we use God’s name lightly, because God is not a light subject and the implications of his name are not simple. We cannot simply toss around the name of the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being like it makes no difference, and this is something I seriously need to work on.

Verse 32 is pretty straightforward: Paul lists a bunch of attitudes we shouldn’t have. Now, anger is one of them, but we know from the context that he must be speaking here about an unrighteous anger that borders on hatred. All these things that he lists can be related to speech, and when I first read it, the first specific sin I thought of was gossip. How often do we let words come out of our mouths that are demeaning to others? It’s surprising, really. I think it’s because we don’t bother to really listen to ourselves. It’s like we just say what we feel without any discernment, and even though some might consider that “healthy” or “natural,” I’d consider it foolish. Sure, it’s natural. Sin is completely natural for human beings. We need to flee from that and continue to put on our new nature, which is characterized by the second verse: kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving. Instead of trying to get revenge on those people who have wronged us, or simply tear down others in order to make ourselves look good, we should put others before ourselves, be understanding of their situations, and forgive them for what they may have done against us, because that is what God was like to us. Christ came down and did all these things and had this kind of humble attitude. He died on the cross for our sins, all of them. The least we could do is forgive our brothers the comparatively little things they do against us.