{"id":26543,"date":"2023-06-01T22:00:27","date_gmt":"2023-06-02T05:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ephesians-4_17-24-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-05-16T15:24:08","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T22:24:08","slug":"ephesians-4_25-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ephesians-4_25-32\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Habits for Healthy Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ephesians\u00a0 4:25-32 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ephesians 4:25-32.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Ephesians\u00a04:25-32.\u00a0 There are so many relevant truths to apply from this one passage.\u00a0 For a teacher of God’s\u00a0Word\u00a0it’s hard to pick just one to focus on!\u00a0 That’s how rich this passage is.<\/p>\n

Ephesians 4:25-32 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and do not give the devil a foothold.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do 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.
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25-32:\u00a0 This passage contains 8 essential habits for healthy relationships.\u00a0 Which one of these relationship tips do you especially\u00a0need to apply today?<\/p>\n

Here they are:<\/p>\n

1. Don’t lie.\u00a0 Instead, speak truthful words. (v25)<\/p>\n

2. Manage your anger appropriately. (v26-27)<\/p>\n

3. Don’t steal. \u00a0 Don’t steal from God by failing to tithe.\u00a0 Don’t steal from others by taking what is theirs without asking or without trying to give back in some way. (v28a)<\/p>\n

4. Don’t be greedy and consumer-oriented all the time.\u00a0 Have something to share with others. (v28b)<\/p>\n

5. Speak encouraging words, words that build others up instead of tearing others down. (v29)<\/p>\n

6. Treat the Holy Spirit well.\u00a0 Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit by ignoring His promptings or disobeying His commands. (v30)<\/p>\n

7. Get rid of all bitterness from your life. Bitterness is like a weed that will grow and choke the life out of you unless you uproot it. (v31)<\/p>\n

8. Be kind, compassionate and forgiving, just as God always is to you. (v32)<\/p>\n

Each relationship tip from this passage could be a sermon on its own!<\/p>\n

Finally, here is what I learned from verse\u00a025\u00a0today:<\/p>\n

Ephesians\u00a04:25\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his\u00a0neighbor, for we are all members of one body.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse\u00a025: \u00a0Here’s a tip when reading the Bible: \u00a0Whenever you see the word “Therefore” in Scripture, it’s good to look back at what the writer was saying just before he wrote “therefore”. That way you know what the “therefore” is there for.<\/p>\n

In this case, just before Paul writes “Therefore” in verse\u00a025, Paul writes about how we are created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (v24).\u00a0 So when Paul tells each member of his church in Ephesus to “put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour” (v25), it’s with the goal of growing more like God in true righteousness and holiness (v24).<\/p>\n

God\u00a0Himself is full of truth.\u00a0 In Him is no falsehood at all.\u00a0 So if you have a propensity to lie or to stretch the truth, it’s time to put off falsehood and to speak truthful words from now on. \u00a0 Sometimes the truth is not comfortable to say.\u00a0 May God give you\u00a0wisdom\u00a0to speak the truth with love, wisdom and courage.<\/p>\n

Finally, why does Paul end verse\u00a025\u00a0by saying “for we are all members of one body.” \u00a0What does being members of one body have to do with telling the truth and not lying?\u00a0 Remember that over and over in\u00a0Ephesians\u00a0Paul\u00a0emphasizes\u00a0that we are one body, on the same team and part of the same family with our brothers and sisters in Christ.\u00a0 To function well your physical body depends on the brain to send a consistent message to all the other parts of the body.\u00a0 Likewise, in the body of\u00a0Christ\u00a0all the parts of the body need to get the same message so that we can all move in the same direction and work together effectively. \u00a0 That’s why for the health and effectiveness of the church, we always want to speak truthful words to one another and not create unnecessary division through lies and deceit.<\/p>\n

Thank\u00a0You\u00a0Holy Spirit for caring so much about the health of our relationships that You inspired Paul to write so much about relationships.\u00a0 I pray that I and all my brothers and sisters in Christ would take to heart these 8 relationship tips You give, that we would have healthy, happy, God-glorifying relationships with one another and that Your body can keep growing healthy and strong.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ephesians 4:25-32.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Ephesians\u00a04:25-32.\u00a0 There are so many relevant truths to apply from this one passage.\u00a0 For a teacher of God’s\u00a0Word\u00a0it’s hard to pick just one to focus on!\u00a0 That’s how rich this passage is.
\n\u00a0
\nEphesians 4:25-32 (NIV)
\n25\u00a0\u00a0Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
\n26\u00a0\u00a0“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
\n27\u00a0\u00a0and do not give the devil a foothold.
\n28\u00a0\u00a0He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
\n29\u00a0\u00a0Do 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.
\n30\u00a0\u00a0And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
\n31\u00a0\u00a0Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
\n32\u00a0\u00a0Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.<\/p>\n

On verses 25-32:\u00a0 This passage contains 8 essential habits for healthy relationships.\u00a0 Which one of these relationship tips do you especially\u00a0need to apply today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26543"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26546,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26543\/revisions\/26546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}