Tenderhearted Christianity (Jesus, ritual, followers, pray, spiritual)

[*Paul*]

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
I love these two verses, in it we have the assurance of God's forgiveness "for Christ's sake". But linked with this is an exhortation to follow God's tender heart toward us by being this way on our relationships.

We are to be kind to one another, how easy it is to be unkind, especially when we feel that we have been wronged in some way, if I insulted you now you could probably come back at me with some insults very quickly, but we are to bless in return, this takes an effort for we must die to self and forgive the hurt done to our self just as God forgives us though we hurt Him with our rebellion and ungratitude.

Tenderhearted, what a supreme spiritual aim in life, this thought should be in all we do, slow to anger, quick to bless, quick to forgive and ever ready to give some of our precious self time to those who need us being full of compassion and sympathy with sincerity.

forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you,
How has God forgiven us who have recieved His forgiveness? He has forgiven us completely, it is very easy to pretend to forgive someone because it looks good but God wants us to forgive from the heart:
Matthew 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
There must be a heartfelt sincerity in our forgiveness, this also shows us that God forgives us from His heart because this is the kind of forgiveness He expects of us.

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children as I was playing football with my son today I noticed how he copies me in all I do, he studies my movements and my reactions, even my facial expressions. What a responsability. I think this is what this verse means too, we are to follow Gods pattern of tenderness towards us and His forgiveness towards us and mimick Him to model ourselves off Him.

These are some of the standards that Christians are exhorted to follow, they are difficult and require a taking up of our cross and dying on it for others just as Jesus did. They are some of the fundamentals of the faith which is why I am never ashamed to be called a Christian fundamentalist. I pray I can do this more perfectly every day and by spending time with God in prayer, well doing and bible reading I can learn more about Him and have more fellowship with Him so I can be more like Him.

[*Paul*]

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

This verse is crucial also, these attitudes which damage our relationships are to be put away from the Christian along with malice or bad intent towards others. I like the term "be put away from" here, it is the same term used when the Jews said of Jesus "away with this man, release unto us Barabbus" Luke 23:18

Yes away with these works of the flesh, away with bitterness, how it grows in our lives and chokes us from bearing good fruit.
Away with wrath, how it hurts others and causes us to loose our control sometimes causing collateral damage causing us to lash out.
Away with with all these things for we will not have the works of the flesh to rule over us for the Christian is to be free from these things and no longer a slave to serve the flesh.

[Angelfire]

Wonderful posts Paul. Thank you very much for a much needed reminder.

God Bless you and your son.





peace