This week’s devotions are based on Week 2 of Building Together: “Some Things Have to Go!” (WATCH HERE)
Ephesians 4:30–32 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Paul’s list of things that need to go becomes especially personal in these verses. He tells us to “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” These are not simply behaviors that make us look bad. They damage relationships, divide families, hurt churches, and rob us of the peace God wants us to have with one another.
Bitterness is especially dangerous because it can be so easy to hide. Someone may hurt us, disappoint us, or treat us unfairly, and we carry that hurt with us. We may never say anything, but we replay the conversation in our minds. We remember what happened. We rehearse what we wish we had said. Over time, the hurt becomes bitterness.
Anger can do the same thing. Anger may begin with something legitimate, but when we hold onto it, it can become something destructive. Paul warns us in the previous verses not to let the sun go down on our anger and not to give the devil a foothold. Sinful anger doesn’t stay contained. It begins to affect how we see another person and how we treat them.
So Paul says, “Get rid of it.”
That’s Demo Day language.
Tear it out. Haul it away. Don’t make room for it in the new life Christ is building.
But once again, Paul doesn’t leave us with an empty room. He immediately gives us something better:
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Notice the standard for our forgiveness. Paul doesn’t say, “Forgive when the other person deserves it.” He doesn’t say, “Forgive when they apologize enough.” He says, “Just as in Christ God forgave you.”
That changes everything.
We know what it means to need forgiveness. We have spoken words we wish we could take back. We have held onto anger. We have been selfish. We have hurt people we love. We have sinned against God and others in ways we cannot undo.
Yet God did not wait for us to make everything right before He acted. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. At the cross, Jesus carried the very sins that separate us from God. Because of His sacrifice, God has forgiven us completely.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending that what happened was okay. It doesn’t mean there are never consequences or that every relationship immediately returns to what it was. Forgiveness means we no longer demand that another person’s sin determine our response. We place justice in God’s hands and entrust ourselves to His grace.
Christ has forgiven you. Now He gives you the freedom to forgive.
Today, ask God to show you what needs to go. Then make room for what He wants to build in its place.
Reflect: Is there someone or something you are still carrying bitterness or anger toward? What would it look like to place that hurt into God’s hands? How does remembering that Christ has completely forgiven you change the way you respond to someone who has hurt you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the complete forgiveness You have given me through Your death and resurrection. Forgive me for the bitterness, anger, resentment, and malice I continue to carry. Help me release those things to You. Fill my heart instead with kindness, compassion, patience, and forgiveness. Give me the strength to forgive others as You have forgiven me, and let Your grace be seen in the way I treat those around me. Amen.