When We Grow Up

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We’re all in the process of growing—if we’re healthy, that is. Healthy things grow up.

What happens when you don’t grow up? You’re unstable. You’re like a ship at sea, out of control on the ocean. You believe anyone’s version of the truth. You think you’re not responsible for sin. And you’re a mark for devious manipulators—what a scary picture of the possible fate of a child of God.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can grow up. We can listen to the truth and love it and live it and speak it in love. We can grow up by following Jesus’ example, the head of our body. His breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we grow up healthy in God, full of love. We get spiritual strength and direction from the Lord when we choose God’s way to live.

If we don’t, we’ll lead a foolish, futile, and empty life. People who live without Jesus convince themselves that sin brings satisfaction. They’ve walked away from God and have no idea what they’re missing. They’re unable to discern right from wrong—but they also don’t care. They’re spiraling deeper into sin without a desire to turn back.

Can anything change their direction?

Yes. If they listen to Jesus. If they hear His words and respond in faith. The saved person listens and follows Him. The unsaved person goes his own way.

When we put on “the new man” in Christ Jesus, it’s like we change clothes. Off with your dirty clothes and on with new and clean clothes. The Lord gives us His robe of righteousness, and we are in Christ seated in the heavenlies. Our walk down here should correspond with our position.

The Spirit helps us live by a whole new set of orders. We began this list earlier (4:17) with instructions to walk no longer as the Gentiles walk. Now here are more instructions with practical details.

Be done with lying. Instead, speak the truth (it would resolve most problems in the average church today).

Be angry about some things, like the battle for truth. But when a wrong is corrected, don’t harbor any animosity. Forgive and forget. Harboring hatred and sinful feelings gives the devil an advantage in our lives.

Stop stealing. It’s in our hearts to take things that aren’t ours. Rather, work hard, not for your own gain, but so you can help others with the surplus.

What’s in the heart's well will come up through the bucket of the mouth. What’s coming out of yours? If you’re a believer, your speech should be for instructing and encouraging other believers.

These offenses hurt the Holy Spirit, and it breaks your fellowship. The Holy Spirit can’t work in your life when you’re harboring sin. Some Christians live with a grieved Holy Spirit, and some live with a fully functioning, alive Holy Spirit. This is a precious, intimate part of your new life in Christ. Don’t live another day on your own without Him.

This also grieves the Holy Spirit:

• Bitterness—an irritableness that produces harsh and hard opinions of others.
• Wrath and anger—outbursts of passion. Wrath is intense; anger is chronic.
• Clamor—the bold assertion of your supposed rights and grievances.
• Slander and malice—concealed hatred that comes out in words.

Be done with these things once and for all.

When you become a new person in Christ, a radical change takes place to fill the vacuum sin left. These things please the Lord:

• Being kind to each other.
• Being tender-hearted—deep and calming affection. Some believers are wonderful friends. When they see you, they put their arms around you.
• Forgiving each another—means to give and take in stride to each other’s faults. Do it as quickly and completely as God in Christ forgives you. Forgive based on God’s grace when He forgave us because Christ died for us.

This is quite a wonderful way to live.

1. Lost people convince themselves that sin leads to satisfaction. How should Christians think differently about sin?

2. Why is speaking the truth (and doing so in love) a difficult task, even for those who have the Holy Spirit?

3. Bitterness and anger can corrode a believer from the inside out. What are some steps we can take to deal with those things before they eat away at our joy and affect our relationship with God and His people?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee's complete audio teachings of Ephesians 4:14-24 and Ephesians 4:22—5:2.