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13th April 2024
SaturdayReflection
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'Hope Bolinger suggests'
Reasons Ephesians 4:32 Encourages Us to 'Be Kind to One Another'
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"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you"
Ephesians 4:32
This year certainly has revealed the worst sides of people.
From social media to those in public, people have been unkind, unloving, and uncompassionate to one another.
The Ephesian church, in the middle of a metropolis in Asia Minor that was bursting full of pagan worship, seemed to start out well.
In fact, they were known as "Christ's church."
Nevertheless, divisions appeared to infiltrate the church later.
They'd forgotten the purpose behind their mission and worst of all, had forgotten to carry out all their actions in love.
Under these circumstances, Paul writes this 'Gospel' and extols the Ephesians to in humility consider others, and to love one another.
Although we do live in a different cultural and historical world than that of the Ephesians, the encouragement to seek revenge has permeated the history of mankind.
The idea that perpetuates our media to "clap back," to say the last word, to argue with friends, and complete strangers in Facebook comments to prove you're right, the principle behind all of these - to be rooted in anger - has existed throughout the history of sin.
Our culture sees kindness as a weakness.
The Bible says the opposite.
Kindness involves loving everyone, not just those who treat us well.
And not just those who are easy to love.
After all, God shows kindness to everyone, even those whom we believe don't deserve it.
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
We should especially exercise kindness to brothers and sisters of Christ.
No matter if our personalities clash or we don't always agree with one another, if we have a Christian in need, we should always find an opportunity to show them kindness.
And of course, we can show that one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is kindness.
Therefore, if we walk in step with the Spirit, if we hope to further in our spiritual journey, we need to bear the fruit of kindness.
What about the seemingly harder part of that verse: forgiveness?
After all, our culture at best sees forgiveness with apathy and at worst views it as a toxic sign of weakness.
After all, Jesus forgave our debt of sin that we could never repay, not even after a lifetime dedicated to service and good works.
Therefore, when someone wrongs us, we choose to forgive.
We should note that this passage does not negate the idea of justice.
If someone commits an illegal act, the Bible does say that vengeance is the Lord's.
And that no sin that was hidden will go without notice.
Therefore, we can rest assured that justice does come and will come in the future, but we should not take that revenge into our own hands.
Christian means "little Christ."
In everything we do, we want to emulate Christ's example.
If Jesus can wash Judas' feet, we can show kindness to everyone, even our enemies.
Remember, without love, our good deeds mean nothing.
When we choose kindness and forgiveness, we remind ourselves as to why God has placed us here on earth.
Through Christ's example of humility, and the lovingkindness he has shown us, he has given us a mission and a mindset that often runs counter-culture.
Nevertheless, when we choose kindness and forgiveness, we allow others to experience the grace of God - and we spur other believers to do the same.
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This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
Hope Bolinger
is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books.
More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications.
Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids.
Crosswalk.com, an online Christian living magazine, is brought to you by a group of writers, editors, and content producers seeking to provide applicable, educational, and entertaining content to followers of Jesus Christ regardless of where they are in their respective spiritual journeys.
We believe that the Christian faith isn't just for Sunday mornings in church; our faith informs every issue we face every day of the week.
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