It’s second nature to some. Habitual harping.
Harpers! They radiate a constant raucous harshness (lack of love and kindness) towards sinners of all stripes. By any other name, it is still malice. It’s certainly not the love of God.
Are you into “every kind of malice“? (Ephesians 4:31-32)
definition of malice
relentless, life consuming, deep-seated, deep passion, bitter persistent hatred or dislike with petty feelings of envy and resentment often expressed in small harassments, petty insults with wrathful release of latent spite or persistent malice, resentment or ill will that seeks satisfaction. – Based on merriam-webster 1
All that stuff
All that stuff is to be “put away” by followers of Jesus. Or is malice perpetually active in your heart, in your mind and in what you do and say every day?
bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding, slander, all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence – Source: Ephesians 4:31-32.
Sounds like the Ex of my good friend. Who could live with that? He was destroying her with perpetual verbal abuse thrown up upon her, condemning her constantly, angry with everything, persistently fault-finding, causing strife at every turn, just plain spiteful.
Readily and freely (v32)
Are you still wrapped up in a condemning mode? Still failing to forgive? Still into gossiping about those who have failed? Still looking down on someone? Still intolerant, unkind, callous…? (Ephesians 4:17-32)? Or are you letting “God re-mould” your mind?
– Source: God forgives all wrongdoings of all repentant sinners, no exception
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence]. 32 Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave [a]you.
– Ephesians 4:31-32
I’m not real good at it, but I’m still a’ workin’ more on being consistently kind, helpful, tender-hearted, forgiving, putting the interests and needs of others first…. How ’bout you?
– Source: God forgives all wrongdoings of all repentant sinners, no exception
“…learn to see things
from other people’s
point of view.”
– Philippians 2:1-4
And it helps to see things from… God’s point of view.
FOR MORE:
Is malice perpetually active in your heart, in your mind and in what you do and say every day… bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding, slander, all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence? (Ephesians 4:31-32)
__________
Being an “evangelical” in today’s wild and wooly ungodly culture
What you think and practice as compared with what Jesus thinks
Consequences of Supporting Evil
Getting to Heaven with No Left Foot
Worldviews and the Battle for Meaning
Forever forgiving – for God’s sake!
Is Jesus’ Worldview – your worldview
Consider these biblical views: Voting Dichotomously, What Jesus Stands For, Which Jesus Do You Serve?, Following, Following Someone, Exposing a dichotomous heart, One Thing You Lack, Reconsider Your Life, A God Damn,
Where is your belief in Jesus?
If your heart follows to the beat of
a different drum
than what the band of Jesus marches to;
if how you see the world
is not how Jesus see’s the world;
if you are FOR
what Jesus is AGAINST…
where is your belief in Jesus?
Be Berean (site search)
34 Ethical Issues All Christians Should Know | from Crossway | from Wayne Grudem’s Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning
Luke 1:17
“It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous [which is to seek and submit to the will of God]—in order to make ready a people [perfectly] prepared [spiritually and morally] for the Lord.”
Footnotes
- – Source: merriam-webster | malice, malevolence, ill will, spite, malignity, spleen, grudge mean…the desire to see another experience pain, injury, or distress.
malice implies a deep-seated often unexplainable desire to see another suffer.
malevolence suggests a bitter persistent hatred that is likely to be expressed in malicious conduct. a look of dark malevolence
ill will implies a feeling of antipathy of limited duration. ill will provoked by a careless remark
spite implies petty feelings of envy and resentment often expressed in small harassments. petty insults inspired by spite
malignity implies deep passion and relentlessness. a life consumed by motiveless malignity
spleen suggests the wrathful release of latent spite or persistent malice. venting his spleen against politicians
grudge implies a harbored feeling of resentment or ill will that seeks satisfaction. never one to harbor a grudge.
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