I’ve been fighting against the sin of bitterness. On my commute this morning, I wasn’t winning. Bitterness is sin and it’s ugly. I don’t want to be ugly, or have ugliness going on inside (even if no-one can see it). Ephesians 4:31 says to “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” I had the verse ringing through my head all morning. But how do I get rid of bitterness?

The next verse answers that with a positive statement: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Eph 4:32). So I get rid of the crap stuff from v31 and then take hold of kindness, compassion and forgiveness from v32. The key? It’s the motivation in the final clause, “just as in Christ God forgave you.” The way in which I can get rid of bitterness is by reflecting on the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

Grace overcomes bitterness. Ephesians is a pretty sweet book to reflect on God’s grace. God’s grace is all about his incredible kindness shown to sinful people who don’t deserve it. God’s grace is all about Jesus dying in the place of sinners. God’s grace is all about being made alive with Christ.

Here’s how God’s grace helped me this morning to keep punching as bitterness reared its ugly face, I saw that:

1. my sin is ugly before God (see Eph 2:1-3)
2. God’s love expressed in Christ Jesus is beautiful and rich (see 2:4-5)
3. the debt against me is far less than my incalculable debt against God
4. grace now characterises my new life as one united with Christ (see ch 4-6)

(this post was written on monday, published on tuesday, then back-dated to monday!)

Luke 9:18-27 is a passage that I regularly preach on. Recently I have been challenged to think through whether I’m willing to put into practise what I’ve been preaching. Check out what Jesus says is non-negotiable for one of his disciples: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (verse 23)

Denying self, taking up cross and following Jesus. Recently I’ve been thinking and praying through where and how to serve Jesus once college has finished. I’ve realised that following Jesus may lead to doing things that would have never even crossed my mind a few years ago.

We’re really starting to count the costs of what this could mean, convinced that whatever we do, following Jesus “demands my soul, my life, my all.”