“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”—Ephesians 4:31–32

“But that’s not fair!” Has your child ever said this to you? Have you ever heard someone who experienced an injustice lash out in anger? Perhaps like me, you’ve seen people who were doing what was right, loving and serving the Lord, and living for Him, suddenly come down with an illness, disease, or loss. Perhaps that person has even been you. If so, I want to challenge you to open your heart to what God has to say through Ephesians 4 today. Put aside the injustice or undeserved circumstances in your life, and allow God to speak to you through His truth.—

We could read verse 31 several times a year (maybe even hundreds of times!), but often it’s not until a trial or time of injustice comes that God’s words mean the most. God tells us that no matter what comes in our lives whether it be bitterness or anger, we are to put it aside. He doesn’t tell us to seek revenge then put it aside. He doesn’t justify us holding on to our bitterness. God commands us to put aside all hurt or anger that we may feel.

Sadly, many Christians become bitter or angry with God when injustices occur. They don’t understand why they are suffering while others who aren’t living for God seem to be living happy lives. The Psalmist addressed this when he wrote, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity” (Psalm 37:1). God encourages us, “Don’t worry about what is happening to others. I have a special plan for your life, so trust My path to bring you to that plan.”

But God doesn’t want us to just put aside our hurts; He wants us to show kindness. When we are wronged by others and have put aside our anger, God wants us to also show kindness to them. God goes on in verse 32 to say, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” While it is hard enough to let go of hurt feelings, showing kindness takes special grace from God.

Our kindness and forgiveness to others is not based on our feelings but on Christ’s action on the Cross. His entire earthly ministry was about forgiveness—coming to earth to die and pay the price for our sins, thus forgiving us of any wrongdoing. We should forgive others and show them kindness because God has first forgiven us.

What injustice have you experienced? Has someone wronged you or has an “unfair” situation come into your life? Rather than harboring bitterness and anger, put aside those feelings and focus on showing kindness. If you’re having trouble seeing how God is working in your situation, take time right now to read Psalm 37. Let God’s words encourage you to surrender to His path for your life, even if that includes suffering injustices.–Daily In The Word”

To be forewarned–is to be forearmed! Our divine Lord here assures His disciples that they will be tried, and teaches them that they must not expect a very smooth path.

The road to the kingdom, will always be more or less a rough road. Almost every day something or other will happen to . . .
  try our tempers,
  exercise our graces,
  or distress our minds.

At times, we shall have many trials and sorrows:
Within–a violent conflict between the flesh and the spirit.
Without–vexations, disappointments, heavy losses, or rugged crosses.
In the body–weakness and pain.
In the soul–temptation and a thousand fears.
In the church–much to depress, discourage, and cast us down.
In the world–enough to make us weep day and night.

If it were not for . . .
  the comforts of the Holy Spirit,
  the fullness of the Lord Jesus,
  the throne of grace, and
  the prospect of perfect peace and rest in our Father’s house
–we would be of all men, the most miserable.

But as it is, we make some progress on the rough road. Though we may often sigh–we also raise a song, and rejoice in the persuasion that all will end well. When we reach the kingdom–all trials and sorrows will cease–and all will be holy and peaceful forever.

Heavenly Father, take me to Your house–where there are no more foes, no more fears, no more privations; and, best of all, where there is no more sin or temptation!–James Smith

Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home– John 19:27

We are commanded to “look to Jesus” on the cross in order to know how to handle suffering (Hebrews 12:2). The third lesson we learn from the seven sayings of Christ on the cross is this: make practical preparations, in the midst of your sorrow.

When we face overwhelming grief, unrelenting discouragement, or pounding pain, it is often hard to know what to do. We tend to want to roll up in a ball and hope that the storm will pass or that some easy solution will present itself.

However, the right response, even in times of great suffering, is to make practical preparations in the midst of your sorrow. You must still get out of bed, or go to work, or do the laundry, or pay the bills, or play with the children, or write up your will — no matter how low you may feel, ignoring your responsibilities will not help any problem go away.

Here was Jesus, in the darkest moment of human history, bearing the brunt of man’s and God’s wrath. No one has ever been in as low a state as Jesus was at this time. And, yet, he is making simple, mundane preparations for after his death. He is making sure that his mother will be cared for.

Elizabeth Elliot calls this fundamental need to face reality the “do the next thing” principle. When you don’t know what to do next, she says, do the next thing. This excellent and practical advice comes from an old, sacred poem:

Do it immediately, do it with prayer;Do it reliantly, casting all care;Do it with reverence, tracing His hand Who placed it before thee with earnest command. Stayed on Omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing, Leave all results, do the next thing. –(“A Good Thing”)

“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” – 1 Corinthians 6:12

There are certain weights that an athlete must choose to lay aside. They are not bad for other people, but they are bad for the athlete. In the spiritual realm, it is the same for Christians.

Paul tells us, “all things are not expedient.” The word “expedient” is similar to the word “expedition.” You see, Christians are going somewhere, and if something doesn’t speed us along the way, then it is excess baggage and we need to get rid of it.

Ask God today, “Are there legitimate, lawful things in my life that are keeping me from running the race?” It might be a hobby, friendship, recreational sport, or a cabin in the mountains. It is not bad; it just keeps you from maximizing your life for the Lord Jesus Christ. You must lay it aside.– Adrian Rogers

Remember— even sinless things can become sinful!

As we face another day, one thing we can count on is this— we will have to deal with some very difficult people. I don’t need to explain that–everyone knows exactly what I mean. As Christians we are commanded to love the unlovely, and that’s not easy. Still we are not exempt from our duty. But how? Perhaps it will help if we remember what we once were.Again and again, Paul reminded his readers of what they were before they were saved. We tend to forget that, don’t we? Yet as sinful as we were, God loved us and Christ died for us. How then can we withhold kindness from others? But for the grace of God we would be the offending party. Sinful people are to be pitied, not hated and despised. Consider this:

“John Newton wrote what is probably the most famous hymn in the world, Amazing Grace. Before his conversation he was a wicked man, making his living as a slave trader—taking people from Africa and selling them into a lifetime of bondage. When Newton was saved, he was completely transformed by God’s grace. But through his later years of serving God as a changed man, he never forgot the kind of man he once had been. Newton wrote, “By nature I was too blind to know Him, too proud to trust Him, too obstinate to serve Him, too base-minded to love Him.”

There is a danger that faces those who have been saved for a number of years. Sometimes we forget how desperately we needed God’s grace. Even those of us who grew up in Christian homes and were saved early in life still had no hope of salvation apart from God’s grace. We should never forget the incredible debt that was paid for our salvation and the free gift that was offered us through no merit or work of our own.

But we also need God’s grace for our daily lives as believers. Just as we could not save ourselves, we cannot live a consecrated Christian life in our own power. The world, the flesh, and the devil work against us constantly. Only the grace of God gives us the strength to be overcomers. The power of grace is something we must never forget.—–