Ephesians 4:25-5:2 (NRSV)
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Verse 25So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Verse 26Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, Verse 27and do not make room for the devil. Verse 28Thieves 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. Verse 29Let 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. Verse 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Verse 31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, Verse 32and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Chapter 5Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, Verse 2and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Devotion
Try not to think about a monkey eating an ice-cream cone. Do you have the image in your mind: a cute little monkey happily licking a triple-scoop chocolate ice-cream cone? Exactly.
Trying not to do things is hard. Often we "do not do what [we] want, but [we] do the very thing(s) we hate" (Romans 7:15), to quote another letter of the Apostle Paul. When we try not to do something, it is easy to fixate on it and, eventually, do the very thing we set out not to do!
How wonderful it is, then, that Paul ends this passage in Ephesians with something that we can not not try to do: "...be imitators of God...and live in love, as Christ loved us..." Impossible as it is, our desire to be imitators of God and to live in love will accomplish all that is commanded of us as disciples of Christ.
So stop trying not to do things. Live in the freedom of Christ, for the Spirit of God is already accomplishing great deeds of glory and power through you.
Prayer
God, make us imitators of Christ. Let our lives be a prayer, a fragrant offering to you. Amen.