Let him who stole
steal no longer,
but rather let him
labor,
working with his
hands what is good,
that he may have
something
to give him who has
need.
Let no corrupt word
proceed
out of your mouth,
but what is good
for necessary
edification, that it may
impart grace to the
hearers.
And do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God,
by whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4: 28 -- 30
The English
word kleptomaniac comes from the Greek word "κλέπτω" and it simply
means a thief but it also is akin to "κλέπτης" which means a stealer
literally, and metaphorically it speaks of one being a false teacher. Figuratively it's because of the personal
coming of Christ, that is, a warning to a local church, where most of the
members possessed a mere outward profession and were defiled yet in the world. It speaks of the day, of divine judgment
upon the world, (2 Peter 3: 10; Thessalonians 5:2, 4). In 1 Thessalonians 5:2 -- 4 there is
no reference to the time of the coming of Jesus Christ, only as to the manner
of the coming, it is interesting that here the present tense is used of the word
instead of the future tense and emphasizes the certainty of His coming. It speaks of the unexpectedness of the
coming as that of the thief that comes in the night, and prepares us for His
coming. Paul here of course is speaking
in the present to those who were stealing in order to feed themselves or to
have some goods and then says stop! Stop
doing what you are doing and go to work!
Then he said something very interesting: work with your hands doing that
which is good and why: to give to him who has a need. Now there is an interesting thought: you are not just to work for
yourself but to have the ability to help others who are in need this removes
selfishness and pride from a person's life.
Now how can I help other people with anything that I may have if I have
not forgiven that person? Anything that
is done outside of absolute forgiveness is a false act that makes a person
seemed proud within himself but is really doing little to help the other
person. Only the person may have some
good food but he needs more. Paul
earlier had said that we need to put away lying and speak truth to our neighbor
for that neighbor is your brother or sister in Christ. There may have been some confrontation
between you and another and it may make you angry and anger is not always bad
but any anger that leads you to sin is a sin against the angry person. Paul even said that the sun should not go
down upon your wrath. We must take heed
of our anger and our ungoverned passions.
Address others who may have caused you by harm with the love of God that
is a love that is so great that He came Himself to die on the cross for you and
this should change your attitude as to how you handle difficult situations in
your life. We should just set aside
ourselves and remove all other jealousy except the jealousy that you will have
for the glory of God, a jealousy that is greater than any interest or
reputation for yourself and to have desires to benefit an offender. You see if we do not handle our anger all
that we would be doing is giving place to the devil and even in fact been in
some sort of communication with him.
You see if we give way to anger we've given consent to that anger and if
we continue to not handle the situation according to God's instructions then we
will repeat this evil deed and we will continue to be in the course of sin. It goes back to this one thing: who or what
has priority in your life; you or God.
Now, in
regards to stealing do not think that is simply taken an object that was not
yours because stealing can also mean stealing time. Do you come to work late and expect to be paid for the time that
you were not present at your job? If
so, you are stealing from your employer!
Do you take things from work that are not yours, paper clips, paper,
anything else that is not yours just because it's lying around and said no use
for a while to feel like you can use it so it's okay for you to take it? That is
stealing! Stealing comes in many forms
and we need to remove stealing from our lives.
Paul goes
to say that we should not allow any corrupt word to come out of our mouths in
the Greek word used here for corrupt is "σαπρός" and while there
other words translated from the Greek that also mean corrupt this word primary
speaks of vegetables and animal substances that are of poor quality in other
words they are worthless. Therefore, we
need to take care that while we enjoy some joking at times and fun things to be
done and said, we must remember that our words need to be also edifying others
so that they could receive grace. Now
if we are not following what Paul has just read it are rated that we are to
stop doing and can start doing whether it be by word or by deed if we do not do
this then all we've done is grieve the Holy Spirit of God. We can never forget that the Holy Spirit has
sealed as for the day of redemption.
This should humble as it reminds us that we have a responsibility as
Christians to manifest God whenever and wherever we are or saying in this life. Paul and was this chapter with this: "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger,
clamor, and the evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4: 31
-- 32).
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my
sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
And are
acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue,
but behold,
O LORD, You know it all together.
Psalm 139: 1 -- 4
God forgave you: you forgive others
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