And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  (31) Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  (32) And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Chapter 5: 1. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.  (2) And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. 

The letter to the EPHESIANS was written by the Apostle Paul. Our verses today begin by telling us we have a personal relationship with God in Christ and as proof of this we have  been sealed by the Holy Spirit for redemption. This tells us that at the moment of faith we enter into a new and eternal relationship with God. We begin becoming who we now are. The notion of a seal in Paul’s world meant that something was certified as genuine; the seal was tamper proof and the owner of the seal was identified.

Pauls words here are a command, not a suggestion. Strife limits our growth spiritually and actually hurts us physically.  We are told what we are to put off in verse 31 and then we are told how to accomplish this as necessary and practical steps for good living. I am always struck at how closely the 12 steps of alcoholics anonymous follow biblical teaching. an alcoholic who lives the steps cannot afford anger, bitterness, temper, volatile living.   Most of all, we should forgive others for wrongs done us – or perceived wrongs. Our godly living is always done in relationship to our forgiveness. God forgave man through Christ and that is the standard for our forgiveness of others. This shows us how far we should go with forgiveness and that we are to be all in. We are to choose life over death of the soul. Forgiveness implies no payment for transgression and if we forgive others we have stopped living for ourselves. This is an opportunity that offers us hope that we can and have changed and have become transformed – with the seal of the Holy Spirit

C.S. Lewis pointed out in one of his letters that just like the Our Father prayer says, we are forgiven precisely as we forgive. Think about that.