QUALITIES OF A NEW SELF (PART 4)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Do 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.

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 

Ephesians 4:29, 5:4 NIV

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Put on a new self in Christ Jesus.

This is the call for anyone who chooses to believe in God’s Son as their Savior.

What does this commitment entail?

In our study of Ephesians, chapter 4, we have found the Apostle Paul giving us the answer. he wrote:

“...put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. vv. 22-24

Becoming a Christian means the new believer has to break from the status quo. They no longer can behave as they did before, their conduct corrupted by the ways of the world. Leaving the former life behind, they must strive to live as Jesus did, to put the Christ into their Christian life, and in doing so, they become as God intended them to be, to be like Him through living in true righteousness and holiness.

As we have seen in the first three parts of this series, the abandonment of one’s former worldly self means a divorce from the sins of that lifestyle. In this chapter of Ephesians, we see how a person who was deceitful must now speak truth. Anger must be eradicated so to not give Satan, the instigator of iniquity, a foothold. Thievery has to give way to work and a subsequent attitude of charity with one’s earnings.

In today’s fourth installation of looking at the qualities of the new self one is to be through Jesus, we find this command in God’s word as found in the 29th verse:

Do 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.

What does Paul mean by “unwholesome talk”?

Let’s look at several other Bible translations and how they translate this same verse:

Don’t use foul or abusive language. NLT

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. NKJV

Stop all your dirty talk. CEV

Do not use harmful words. GNT

No foul language is to come from your mouth. HCSB

Now we have a little more substance to work with.

When a person puts on their new self, they can’t speak as the world speaks anymore. Impure talk is no longer authorized.

That means no more profanity, no more sexually immoral language spoken, and no words cast out as weapons intended to wound another person.

None of this is acceptable when one puts on their new self.

What is acceptable are words that help build someone up. Encouragement should be spoken routinely.

Additionally, the things a Christian says are to benefit the listener and we should be intentional when it comes to only speaking words that would honor and glorify Jesus. There used to be bracelets that people would wear years ago with a simple acronym on them, WWJD, which simply stood for “What Would Jesus Do”. As we open our mouths to talk to others, we need to first ask ourselves, “What Would Jesus Say” and then say those words.

For if we speak the words that our Savior would speak, we will always be saying things that build up and benefit the hearer.

So how do you do in this area?

Are you showing people you are in Christ by the words that you say? Or does your talk sound the same as the world?

The way you speak will speak volumes about whether or not you have truly put on your new self in Jesus.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com