Ephesians 4 opens with a call to unity and a reminder of the diversity of gifts Christ has given to the body of believers. This is a challenging call, but one that leads to maturity when each member of the body strives to work together in love. What follows in our passage today are some practical exhortations about what this life will look like on the ground. What attitudes and behaviors are believers to take up? What are they called to put away? How do personal identity and practical action intersect as believers seek to “live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called?”

Scriptures:

• 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
• Psalm 130
• Ephesians 4:25-5:2
• John 6:35, 41-51

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Rules for the New Life
So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labour and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 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. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.