Four Positive Changes

Series: Amazing Grace/Messy Grace

October 01, 2017 | David Crosby
Passage: Ephesians 4:25-32

Put off and put on. These four positive changes in behavior are in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. If you make these changes you will be more like Christ. That is the fundamental motivation that should prompt these changes. But they come with other benefits. They will exalt the Savior, strengthen your relationships, and brighten your life. They will help you find favor with people and with God.

I’m not saying these changes are easy. I am saying that they are necessary and that God intends to bring them about in your life. I’m not saying everyone will applaud these changes in you. Some of your friends or even family may find your explosive nature useful. They know how to push your buttons. They manipulate you through your character flaws.

But these changes will increase your personal power and influence with others. They will generally increase the respect and even admiration that people have for you. And they will give your life integrity. These changes in behavior will align your life with your words. They are a reflection of the Lordship of Christ in your life.

Say Something Helpful:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." — Ephesians 4:29

Lying can be habitual. It can become a way of life. Dishonesty can so infuse your life that you prefer to lie even when the truth would be better for you. 

  • Lying is a trap you fall into like every other sin. It is deceitful not just to others but to you. You think the lie makes you look better and sound smarter. But eventually the lie reveals you as a pretender. Your lying is only a pretense for the insecurity and uncertainty that you feel about yourself and your place in the world.
  • The chief liar in this world is the Devil. He wants to make you after his own image. He encourages you to lie every day. He wants your life to be dishonest. It is his way of destroying every good thing in your life.

Too much of our speech is harmful. It is intended to harm, not help. It is unwholesome

  • Your speech can go bad on you. Speech can be like those rotten potatoes in the bottom of your pantry. You wonder what that odor is. You scrounge around and realize that your potatoes have gone bad on you.

Your neighbor is the One you love

  • You despise your neighbor when you lie to him. You discount him. Your lie implies that he does not matter to you, that he is inconsequential in your life. 
  • The first step in loving your neighbor is to speak truthfully to him. You may have to begin with an apology for the way you have been. 

Do Something Useful:

"Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need." — Ephesians 4:28

Private ownership of property is fundamental to the Ten Commandments. 

  • Required to have a successful economy. 
    • Some people see Castro’s Cuba as an example of a successful communist economy where the government owns the means of production. I was talking with someone who pointed out that Cuba excelled in education and medicine during the Fidel Castro’s years of control. I visited Cuba shortly after the Iron Curtain fell. A Cuban man showed me his belt. He had taken it up nearly a foot since the $5 billion Russian subsidy had been suspended. I think Castro’s economy was faked from the beginning. 

Stealing undermines my relationship with my neighbors and with my God. If I become known as a thief, no one will want me in their home or near their stuff.

  • The Tenth Commandment, no coveting, makes clear that the basis of greed is not private ownership but the inordinate desire to have what belongs to others.

Do something useful so you will have something

  • Work is good. Earning a living is good. Building your own personal wealth is good. Plant the seed in the Spring so you will have something to eat in the winter. It is a basic economic rhythm of this planet.
  • If you work, then you will have the capacity to help those in need. 

I was astonished to hear a young pastor broadly attack capitalism. Another pastor from a distant part of the world chimed in to say that in his native country if one person receives money, the money belongs to everyone.

Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi entrepreneur, banker, and economist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for his efforts to create economic and social development from below.” The Norwegian Nobel Committee said that "across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development."

Get A Grip:

“In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." — Ephesians 4:26

Do not sin when you are angry.

  • You may have a legitimate anger toward an injustice.
  • You can experience that anger without sinning.

Do not stay angry. Anger is not healthy to hold inside as an emotion. It is debilitating to your attitude and relationships.

Do not give the devil a foothold. Anger opens you up to all kinds of sins including resentment and bitterness. 

Get a Grip. Exercise self-control when you experience anger. Bite your tongue. Let the surge of rage pass before you do or say anything. “I keep my body under and make it my slave lest that, after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified” (I Corinthians 9:27).

Learn to Forgive:

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." — Ephesians 4:32

Put off all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, and every form of malice.

Be kind and compassionate, forgiving one another.

Forgive as you have been forgiven

Do you know the joy of receiving God’s forgiveness? Maybe this is the reason that you cannot control your anger. You have not experienced forgiveness yourself.

Series Information

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