Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 4:25-32 (day three)
“He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with [b]one who has need.”
Often times, when I think of repentance, I think about doing the opposite of what I was doing. Sometimes, that action is simply stopping whatever it is that I need to repent of. Repentance is often described as “going the other way” in regards to your actions. However, as Paul writes here, there is a “starting” action and a “stopping” action with repentance. One who steals must stop stealing and start doing honest, productive work. One who engages in corrupt talk must stop tearing people down and start building others up instead.
Paul reminds us that in our repentance, there is sin that we must stop and an opposite action that we must start instead. These opposite actions to our sin draw us ever closer to the heart of God and free us all the more from the weight that sin bears down upon us. In your quiet times or time of repentance this week, what action is the Holy Spirit leading you to start in response to repentance?
Jimmy Gunn
Associate Pastor,
Preschool & Elementary