Ephesians 5 - What do we do with the hard parts?

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Ephesians 5
 
We passionately cling to the beautiful Bible verses full of encouragement or that support a point we are trying to make. We create calligraphy verses and Pin images with our favorite passages.  But what do we do when we get to the hard stuff? The parts that sort of rub us the wrong way when we first read them? Often we quickly flip through them or brush them off as being culturally specific at the time, but irrelevant now. You know the ones…the ones that go against current cultural norms, our ego, or what is politically correct. Well, Ephesians 5 is full of them. Sexual immorality, covertness, debauchery of wine, crude joking, submission…oh my.
 
Here is one thing I know: Jesus and the apostles talked A LOT about us casually dismissing biblical truths for convenience. They talked A LOT about false teachers and truth distorters and warnings like, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
 
Here is another thing I know: The Holy Spirit will convict us. If we ask for wisdom and discernment, God promises to give it to us. And this may not be the case for you, but when I assess the things that typically rub me the wrong way, they are often rooted in some sin area in my life. They reveal my pride, my desire to please myself, my entitlement attitude, my desires that don’t do much to glorify God.
 
Paul says, “Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…you are in the light of the Lord. Walk as children of light…Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:1-2, 8, 15-17).
 
So that is what I am going to do today. I am going to examine carefully how I am walking through this life. I am going to evaluate how I am using my time. I am going to pray to understand the will of God. I am going to humbly ask for God’s wisdom and revelation of truth. As it relates to me; as it relates to areas that I need to take a hard look at and change. I desire God’s truth over my convenience. I desire God’s approval over man’s accolades. I desire God’s will over mine. Praying.

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