City Life Starter

I. The Word: Ephesians 4:29-32

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

By Scott Fiddler

To fully understand the meaning of what the Apostle Paul is saying in these four verses in his letter to the Ephesians, one must start in verse 17. In verse 17, Paul begins this section of his letter by reminding the Ephesians not to act like the Gentiles anymore who walk “in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their mind, and excluded from the life of God.” Paul then goes on to give examples of how the Gentiles live darkened, in their futile lives, separated from God.

In verses 29-32, Paul highlights one example of what the Gentiles living in darkness were doing, and that is gossiping about and slandering others. If being associated with people who are living in futility, darkness, and separated from God is not enough to motivate the Ephesians, not to gossip and slander, Paul also suggests to the Ephesians that to do so “grieve[s] the Holy Spirit of God.”

Then Paul turns to the proactive and the positive by stating what they should do instead: be kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving in their speech so that what they say will actually give grace to others. The grace of God gives us the power to do things that we would not otherwise be able to do in our own strength. So, when Paul says we are to speak with others in such a way as to give grace to them, he is saying we should allow the Lord to empower us in what say so as to be uplifting to others.

Application

At our law firm, I’ve tried to convey to our people the importance of how we interact with our clients and those who call our office. With our speech and interactions with them, we want to make them feel important and loved (because they are). We want our speech to give grace to those with whom we interact.

Toward that end, Aisha Darwesh has become our self-proclaimed CEO—Chief Encouragement Officer. Since she joined our firm, we have had more people tell me how much they enjoy speaking to her when they call our office. What they don’t realize is that they are experiencing the grace of God working through what Aisha’s says and how she interacts with them. It is the opposite of what people experience when they are subjected to gossip about others.

Bottom line: don’t gossip like a pagan; speak in such a way to be a source of grace to others.