How to be a child of light? How to put on the new man? How do I act now? What do I doooo! AAhhhh
These are questions that come up after being saved and baptized and rightly should. Each “baby” Christian should be concerned about how they represent Xp, what God expects from us, how to be a light in a dark world were not to be a part of anymore, now that they are new to the family. So here goes…
In Eph 4 and 5, Apostle Paul is telling us (well them, were kinda eves dropping) how and even breaks it down for us. This is just one chapter only that Paul addresses this topic. So just from just one chapter we see a lot of definitive answers. No holding back on his part.
I have divided the chapter into two sections. The do’s and don’ts. So they are NOT in order as they appear in the Scriptures but they are there for sure. It may seem like a rule sheet but, when you ask for definitive lines to be drawn for a specific question, then you’ll get specific answers.
Makes it hard for you to create “loopholes” or find a way to justify continuing to live wrong and it’ll help out when others need to be redirected.
So here’s how to “be careful how we live”
Do’s.
Speak in song Be angry but don’t sin Be kind Live as child of light Speak to edify
Give thanksgiving Be compassionate Goodness Make Music to God Imitate God
Forgive Be Rightous Truthful Sing to God Give thanks
Sumbit to each other Make most of every opportunity! Understand Gods will Speak in Hyms
Speak in Psalms Speak truth to each other Wives submit and respect your husbands
Husbands love wives as you do yourself
Don’t’s
No unwholesome talk Not be foolish Not get Drunk No idolatry No coarse jokes
Foolish talk Obscenity No greed No impurity Sexual immorality
Futile thinking Don’t harden heart No falsehood Don’t give in to Sensuality
Lose bitterness Lose Rage Lose anger No brawling No slander No malice
Avoid fruitless seeds of darkness No disobedient partners Don’t associate with disobedient
In essence it’s really not like the Don’ts are ruining your fun in life because all those negatives are just that. Negative. They actually take away from the joy of life. There is no joy in getting hurt in a brawl, getting fired for coarse jokes, being drunk in a wreck, being stressed out over bitterness at a family member or coworker…I could go on.
It’s just that, maybe it’s all you know at THIS time in life. You’re at a critical stage here where you’re new and are eager to learn but the world seems to be tempting you harder, trying to keep you it seems. This is the dividing line, time to get serious. Make new friends even though the old ones ridicule you for it. Find new outlets to cope with life’s troubles…like prayer, not drinking or arguing or malice. Especially malice.
As you grow you’ll come to see how much better life is when you’re following God’s will. It’s funny cause I thought profanity would be the hardest issue for me to ever overcome. But it only took about 8 months to move beyond a life of cussing more than 3 sailors put together. It turned out I had underlying issues with pride, haughtiness and compassion that basically was being manifested through cussing. I thought it was a stress cope tool and I told folks I liked the way it feels when it comes out of my mouth. Wow. I thought it was funny. So at first I had to avoid any profane laced movie (no more Chappell Show or Eddie Murphy) and profane friends. After a couple of years now when someone cusses around me, it’s like a cat on chalk board.
So the Spirit works on 3 or 4 things at once. ? So cool. Yes, it’s a process called Gradual Sanctification. Now we’ve all read stories about folks who smoked for 30 years and get saved and never smoke again. Some folks that happens too. Me I’m a Gradualist I reckon, but I’m never not amazed at how all these little sins can all come from one or two big under lying problems...that when you gotta dig deep into prayer, asking for it to be reveailed to you.
Remember God aint trying to ruin our fun, He’s making life more fulfilling.
B’z
These are questions that come up after being saved and baptized and rightly should. Each “baby” Christian should be concerned about how they represent Xp, what God expects from us, how to be a light in a dark world were not to be a part of anymore, now that they are new to the family. So here goes…
In Eph 4 and 5, Apostle Paul is telling us (well them, were kinda eves dropping) how and even breaks it down for us. This is just one chapter only that Paul addresses this topic. So just from just one chapter we see a lot of definitive answers. No holding back on his part.
I have divided the chapter into two sections. The do’s and don’ts. So they are NOT in order as they appear in the Scriptures but they are there for sure. It may seem like a rule sheet but, when you ask for definitive lines to be drawn for a specific question, then you’ll get specific answers.
Makes it hard for you to create “loopholes” or find a way to justify continuing to live wrong and it’ll help out when others need to be redirected.
So here’s how to “be careful how we live”
Do’s.
Speak in song Be angry but don’t sin Be kind Live as child of light Speak to edify
Give thanksgiving Be compassionate Goodness Make Music to God Imitate God
Forgive Be Rightous Truthful Sing to God Give thanks
Sumbit to each other Make most of every opportunity! Understand Gods will Speak in Hyms
Speak in Psalms Speak truth to each other Wives submit and respect your husbands
Husbands love wives as you do yourself
Don’t’s
No unwholesome talk Not be foolish Not get Drunk No idolatry No coarse jokes
Foolish talk Obscenity No greed No impurity Sexual immorality
Futile thinking Don’t harden heart No falsehood Don’t give in to Sensuality
Lose bitterness Lose Rage Lose anger No brawling No slander No malice
Avoid fruitless seeds of darkness No disobedient partners Don’t associate with disobedient
In essence it’s really not like the Don’ts are ruining your fun in life because all those negatives are just that. Negative. They actually take away from the joy of life. There is no joy in getting hurt in a brawl, getting fired for coarse jokes, being drunk in a wreck, being stressed out over bitterness at a family member or coworker…I could go on.
It’s just that, maybe it’s all you know at THIS time in life. You’re at a critical stage here where you’re new and are eager to learn but the world seems to be tempting you harder, trying to keep you it seems. This is the dividing line, time to get serious. Make new friends even though the old ones ridicule you for it. Find new outlets to cope with life’s troubles…like prayer, not drinking or arguing or malice. Especially malice.
As you grow you’ll come to see how much better life is when you’re following God’s will. It’s funny cause I thought profanity would be the hardest issue for me to ever overcome. But it only took about 8 months to move beyond a life of cussing more than 3 sailors put together. It turned out I had underlying issues with pride, haughtiness and compassion that basically was being manifested through cussing. I thought it was a stress cope tool and I told folks I liked the way it feels when it comes out of my mouth. Wow. I thought it was funny. So at first I had to avoid any profane laced movie (no more Chappell Show or Eddie Murphy) and profane friends. After a couple of years now when someone cusses around me, it’s like a cat on chalk board.
So the Spirit works on 3 or 4 things at once. ? So cool. Yes, it’s a process called Gradual Sanctification. Now we’ve all read stories about folks who smoked for 30 years and get saved and never smoke again. Some folks that happens too. Me I’m a Gradualist I reckon, but I’m never not amazed at how all these little sins can all come from one or two big under lying problems...that when you gotta dig deep into prayer, asking for it to be reveailed to you.
Remember God aint trying to ruin our fun, He’s making life more fulfilling.
B’z