Lesson 20 – Walking in Truth
Read Ephesians 4:17-32 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/eph.4.esv
How do we walk in truth in relationships with others? We are given five examples of what this looks like in our lives. Again, remember it is not we who accomplish this, but Jesus works in us as we submit to His direction.
The first is in verse 25 – we are to put away falsehood and speak the truth with our neighbor. How do we lie to each other? One of the easiest lies to tell is that we are fine when we are not. We feel uncomfortable with telling others our burdens or concerns. But God has told us to help each other bear extra heavy burdens – Galatians 6:2. Someone might say that just 3 verses later it tells us to carry our own burdens – but the word in this second verse is “obligation.” Our heavy burdens are usually hurts and fears, while our obligations are daily things we need to do ourselves.
Another common way of lying to someone is to make ourselves to be more important in something than we truly are. God says many times He does not want us to be proud, but to see ourselves as we really are – Romans 12:3.
The second way of walking in truth in our relationships with others is in verse 26 – being angry without sin, and taking care of it immediately. Is it possible to be angry without sin? Yes – Jesus was angry and yet had no sin. Look at the story in John 2:13-17 where He chased merchants out of the temple. Just as Jesus did not strike the people – it says He chased them out – so we are not to let our anger descend to physical violence against someone.
But the key to this is in the last part of this verse – we are not to keep that anger, we must let it go. It says we must let it go before we go to sleep that night. If we let anger, even righteous anger, stay in our hearts it will grow into bitterness, resentment and more inside our heart – then it becomes sin. The only way we can be angry and not sin is to let the anger accomplish that which is right and then give it up to God.
The third way of walking in truth with others is in verse 27, and is actually a part of the previous statement – we are to give no opportunity to the devil. If we find a fellow Christian doing something that is wrong, and our anger rises at the insult to God this action brings, and we shout out this should not be and “chase” away the offending thing, we have not sinned. But if I let my anger turn against the person now rather than the action, I’m giving the devil an opportunity to create a barrier between myself and that other person.
The next verse tells us the fourth way of walking in truth is that we each are to do whatever we can to provide for ourselves rather than expecting someone else to provide for us.
The fifth way of walking in truth is to keep our speech pure. We can so easily tear someone down with gossip, instead we need to build others up. The words here say, “as fits the occasion.” God doesn’t want us to continually talk for the sake of hearing ourselves do so, He wants us to pay attention to things around us, and if an opportunity arises where we can help someone out with kind words, we should take that opportunity.
How is Jesus helping you walk in truth?
*To walk in truth we are to put away _____
*To walk in truth we are to give no opportunity to _____
*To walk in truth we must keep our speech _____