Daily Grace: Walking with God Each Day

FRIDAY, 16 AUGUST 2024

TEXT: Ephesians 4:17-32

17. Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds.

18. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.

19. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

20. That is not the way you learned Christ!

21. For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus.

22. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts,

23. and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

24. and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25. So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.

26. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

27. and do not make room for the devil.

28. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.

29. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.

30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.

31. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,

32. and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

(New Revised Standard Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: LIVE TO PLEASE GOD

The society in which we live is characterized by different attitudes that do not seem to build the faith of people. Rather, we engage in things that dishonor God as well as discourage others.

Lies, cheating, stealing, anger, quarreling, etc, are very common among even those that are called by the name of the Lord.

Paul wanted the Ephesian believers to understand that their lifestyle is different from that of the Gentiles.

Thus, they should desist from doing the same things the Gentiles do. Christians’ position should take them away from their old selves and all their practices and make them put on new selves that are renewed in the image of Christ.

Be conscious of your position in Christ as you live and honour Him through your lifestyle.

QUESTION: What can you truly say is the representation of your attitude as you live in the society?

PRAYER: I pray Father that You reveal Yourself to Your Church and help us to be willing to do the things that You expect of us as Your children in this world we live in. Amen.