Never use foul or abusive language

Ephesians 4:29 (NLT)

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. 

When you think of “foul or abusive language” what comes to mind?  What comes to my mind are curse words and calling people names.  One publication reported that 10 words account for 80% of public foul language, that on average 80-90 words spoken each day are “swear words” and that foul language is associated with hostility.[1]  While many reading this never speak a profane word, others speak foul/abusive words far too frequently. 

If every word you spoke during a day or a week could be recorded and reviewed, what percentage of your words would be foul or abusive versus words of encouragement to others?  You might be surprised. The Greek word that is translated “foul or abusive” is the word “sapros” that means “corrupt” or “rotten”.  This word “sapros” is used several times in the gospels referring to worthless trees that produce bad fruit (e.g. Matthew 7:17-18, Luke 6:43, Matthew 12:33).  Such words are not only foul language words, but also any word that does not build up another person, especially another believer.  So when you call someone any kind of derogatory name, you are using “sapros” language.  Remember, Jesus in Matthew 5:22 said that calling a brother a fool makes you “guilty enough to go into the hell of fire”.  The language you use is serious business in the eyes of the Lord.

Instead, you are to speak words that are good, helpful, and encouraging.  What do these words do to those who hear them?  Mother Teresa said that “kind words can be short and easy, but their echoes are truly endless”. 

Think of examples and the people in those examples who either encouraged or discouraged you with their words.  Both can make a world of difference to you, one in a very positive way; the other in a very negative way.  Proverbs 15:4 summarizes the effects of both encouraging and discouraging words---“A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit”. 

Why not become a person who speaks words of encouragement to others?  Wouldn’t you love to be described as a person who almost always has a fitting word for another and has the ability to say the right thing at the right time (Proverbs 15:23)?  Jesus said that what you say comes from what you think and what is in your heart.  A mind and heart saturated with the word of God will result in a person who will speak words of encouragement to others and make a huge difference in hundreds, even thousands of lives.  May you be this kind of person.

“The people who are lifting the world onward and upward are those who encourage more than they criticize.” –- Elizabeth Harrison  

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[1] Timothy Jay, “The Utility and Ubiquity of Taboo Words”, Perspectives on Psychological Science, March, 2009,153-161, http://pps.sagepub.com.demo.oonair.net/content/4/2.author-index

Live your life worthy of your calling

Ephesians 4:1-3, 13 (NIV)

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace…………until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Like the Romans letter, Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church starts with an explanation of Christian doctrine (first 3 chapters), then here in Chapter 4 he switches to describing Christian practice (the application of doctrine) and writes about practical Christianity in the last three chapters of Ephesians.  Specifically, Paul has been discussing the indescribable blessings from God to His people (e.g. read again Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:8-10; and 3:14-20) now he pleads with readers to live up to these blessings. 

Yes, Paul pleads with his readers---“I urge you……”  The word “urge” in the Greek is “parakaleo” that means “to call near”.  Paul used this word many times in his letters to reinforce a sense of treating his words as “top priority” of our lives. 

So what is the top priority of your life?  If you were not reading this, would you respond that it is to “live your life worthy of the calling you have received”?  And what is that calling?  Verse 4:13 gives the answer—to reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature (perfect).  The word “mature” is the same word that Jesus used in Matthew 5:48 when He said that “you are to be perfect…..”

If you desire to grow spiritually, such a desire must be intentional starting immediately.  People make New Year’s resolutions, yet most fail because it takes intentional resolve and discipline over time (months and years, not days and weeks) to achieve these goals and hopes.  Note in these verses the emphasis on the adjectives and adverbs---

     “….live a life worthy…..”

     “Be completely humble and gentle….”

     “Make every effort…..”

You cannot grow spiritually and reach the ultimate goal of the Christian life without serious, sincere, and substantial resolve and effort on a consistent basis.

However, you can start right now through prayer and through intentional acts of discipline such as studying your Bible and getting active in a ministry that God has called you to do.  Don’t be like so many who Jesus describes as “willing in the Spirit, but weak in the flesh”. (Matthew 26:41).  Be intentional, completely humble and patient, and make every effort to achieve this top priority of your life.

Introduction to the real Lord's prayer

John 17:1-4 (NIV)

After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify You. For You granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those You have given Him.  Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do.

When you think of the Lord’s Prayer, you have been taught that it is “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallow be Thy name….......” found in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.  Actually, this is not the Lord’s Prayer, it is the disciples’ prayer.  The true Lord’s prayer is found in John 17.  If you skim over John 17, you miss the real depth of what Jesus is saying.  He prayed this prayer aloud; otherwise the disciple John could not have recorded it.  In fact Jesus prayed this prayer in the presence of all His disciples as obviously He wanted them to hear it and for us, through John, to read it and understand what Jesus wanted us to learn.

Keep in mind that Jesus knew when He prayed this prayer that the cross was facing Him.  His disciples then realized that the end was near when He uttered the words, “the hour has come”.  The disciples were filled with fear, knowing that their master was soon to leave them, yet Jesus was filled with anticipation.  Yes, He knew that He was going to suffer and die; yet He also knew that He would soon be reunited with His Father in Heaven. Recall that several times in the gospel of John (e.g. John 2:4, 7:30, 8:20) Jesus used the phrase, “My time (or hour) has not yet come”.  Yet, now, as He prayed this prayer in John 17, He knew that the time finally was here for Him to depart this earth via His death and His resurrection.  His work on earth could not be truly fulfilled unless He first fulfilled the principle of death (John 12:24).

Everyone reading this must realize that someday your hour will come.  You can view this both physically and spiritually.  Physically, your hour will come when you must face your own physical death.  Spiritually your hour will come, if it hasn’t already where you must make a choice between living your life for yourself or living it for Jesus.  Once you make a decision to live your life under the lordship of Jesus, you will experience blessings beyond belief.  Do you or can you believe this?

In this prayer notice that God gave to Jesus the power to have authority over all people.  Such power and authority are manifested in Jesus’ ability to give eternal life to you.  Eternal life is knowing Jesus Christ personally.  The analogy might be knowing Jesus like you know your spouse or a dear friend with whom you can share anything about your life.  There is both breadth and depth in that enriching relationship and it is a wonderful thing.    Eternal life is your only hope for life after death and such hope comes only from having a relationship with Jesus.  Where do you stand? 

Jesus declares that He has finished the work on earth that God gave Him to do.  He is your example in that you should live your life so that as you near the end you can declare the same thing.  Do you know the work God has given you to do in this life?  If not, you need to pursue what that purpose is.  I believe that deep down in everyone’s heart, you know what your purpose is for living the life God has given you.  You know what motivates you, what Bible verses speak loudest to you, what calling(s) you feel if you avail yourself to listening to the Word of God through reading and hearing it.  Then, once you know what God wants you do accomplish while living your life on earth, are you indeed fulfilling that work? 

Again, deep down in your heart, your inner spirit convicts you whether or not you are fulfilling His purpose for your life.  You need to act upon whatever you sense God is telling you to do, either continue what you are doing or start doing what you know you are not doing yet.  If you don’t know and don't pursue what your life’s purpose is, what you are to achieve in this life God has given you, then indeed you won’t achieve much from an eternal perspective and you will miss out on the most fulfilling, abundant life God created you to have.

Beware of acting "holier than thou"

Colossians 2:16-19 (NLT)

So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.   For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come.  And Christ himself is that reality.   Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For He holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. 

There has always been the problem of zealous individuals and churches attempting and often succeeding in imposing their man-made beliefs onto others.  They think they know what is right and wrong by taking Bible verses out of context, flatly misinterpreting them, and/or do not even know what the Bible really teaches.  Some examples, similar to what Paul was writing about millennia ago:

·  Condemning you for eating certain foods like meat

·  Forbidding the drinking of tea or coffee

·  Forbidding activities such as dancing, playing football, taking medicine, chewing gum, watching movies, wearing jewelry, and many other false forms of self denial that are not Christ-honoring, but rather man-honoring.

·  Condemning you if you worship on a day other than Sunday

·  Condemning you for reading Bible translations other than the King James Version

·  No reading the paper or watching TV or cooking or anything secular on Sundays

·  Enforcing certain dress and personal appearance rules

·  Condemning you for any kind of sin without any aspect of grace.

Think about people who exemplify “holier than thou” attitudes and actions:

·  Hypocritical judgment of others---condemning another’s sin when the condemner is doing the same thing. 

·  Claiming to have a special relationship with God that others don’t

·  If you do not speak in tongues, you do not have the Holy Spirit in you (and, therefore, you are not saved)

·  Examples from movies and television:

·  The prison warden in Shawshank Redemption

·  The townsfolk in Inherit the Wind

·  Robbie's wife's parents in Everybody Loves Raymond.

·  Dana Carvey’s “church lady” parody in Saturday Night Live

No one has the right to condemn you for your failure to obey man-made rules.  For someone to tell you how to without proper or correct biblical referencing is wrong and you are not to listen to them.  Paul uses two examples of man-dictated rules---pious self-denial and worship of angels.  Pious self-denial means false humility and worship of angels means that angels were worshipped rather than God through Jesus. These are not from Christ.  In fact, people who create and/or enforce man-made rules are obstacles to Christ and have historically done the church much harm.  Paul calls them sinful and filled with pride and, in fact, such people are not connected to Christ.

If someone you know---and this could be you---starts trying to manipulate and control others through claiming that God spoke to him/her, you know now that the apostle Paul wrote about such people long ago and they are not connected to Christ.  Do not be swayed and do not feel condemned by them.  Keep your mind and heart on Christ through the careful studying of His Word.  Those who are swayed by such false teachers and prophets are those who do not know their Bibles.  And, indeed, biblical illiteracy is a huge problem in the lives of most Christian people. 

How well do you know your Bible such that you could easily discern man-made rules from what is really taught in the Bible?