"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...For you were
once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the
light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord."
- Eph. 4:29, 5:8-10
In InterVarsity we've been discussing the importance of reflecting Christ's love in our speech and actions toward each other, and it has led to a new catch-phrase in which one person or group says "E 4!" and another person or group responds with "2 9!" It is rediculously funny to watch this happen at what appears to be random times in conversation, but here is the gist...
"E429" stands for Ephesians 4:29, and whenever we begin to put others down or speak things that are not truth or wholesome, then we call each other out on it in this way, so as to keep each other accountable to what the Lord commands us. It's important to remember that God is not giving us these commands just because he has the power... in Eph. 5 we see the reason for these things - we are called to holiness. We who know the Lord personally have been brought from darkness into light, and therefore, our lives should reflect that light! What good is it to be completely transformed if we cannot show that to the world and draw others to the gospel?
My small group has been studying the book of Deuteronomy, and I found verses there that seemed to parrallel the passage in Ephesians -yes! God still uses the Old Testament to speak to us! In Deut. 26, God urges his people to walk in his ways and carefully observe his commands, and all because they are his children - the nation of the earth that he chose to be holy and seperate. Once Christ came, that nation grew to include anyone who would believe in him and commit their lives to him - which means that we as followers of Christ are also chosen to be holy and seperate! Do not pretend to be the same as you were before, but allow God to change you completely, inside and out.
I can't really talk about who we are to God without mentioning the incredible weekend I had recently, learning about my identity in Christ and how the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control - can only be genuinely found in the Lord. We may be able to pretend we are joyful or fake love for a while, but it never lasts in ourselves because we are only sinners saved by grace. But if we have the Lord living in our hearts, then these fruits are not impossible to bear, because we don't depend on our own abilities but on Christ.
So when we think of how the Bible says to "live as children of light" or "live a life of love" or "be imitators of God," think of the fruits and ask the Lord to season your words and actions with the love, joyfulness and peace that can only be found in Him. Jesus' words always benefitted those who listened to him, and since we are to be like Christ, so should our words turn people to him.
"And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he
promised, and that you are to keep all his commands." - Deut. 26:18
