Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and 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
With a new puppy in our family, my heart resonated with the tenderness of this picture that I found! Puppies bring out a sweetness and tenderness in my guys like nothing else. It is the cutest thing seeing my teenage boys speak softly and tenderly to a little puppy, to be excited to greet him as they get home. Then, my big, tough husband…he just melts as he kneels down to greet the puppy!
As we go through our daily routine, we encounter many people, some family, some friends, some strangers. Some may even tax our energy and try our patience! This verse gives some directions on how not to treat others – with bitterness, clamor (anger), unkind words but also shares how to treat them: with kindness and forgiveness. But at the end the verse, the words that should lodge in our hearts always: “as God has forgiven you” should always be our measuring stick. God has been gracious to us and in turn expects us to be gracious to others. May we always “Be Him – to others”.
Amen, may we all be Him to others. Bless you.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a lovely reminder to us and I love the puppy photo, because it shows me how to see others as God does, with a tender, loving and forgiving heart, "even as God in Christ forgave me". Amen!!
ReplyDeleteGreat verse and beautiful picture. A lot of teaching through both.
ReplyDeleteAmen! Beautiful picture & agreeing puppies do bring out tenderness in us all. Perfect to to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor... great Scripture reminder dealing with any "accidents" that may come with training with the new puppy!!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to working still; allowing Him to change me from within to always "Be Him - to others" with you too!
Hugs & Prayers, HL
hljourney.wordpress.com
(Thanks too for stopping by!!)
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ReplyDeleteI love your illustration. I may have to convince my husband to get a puppy. My boys need to learn tenderness . . .
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by. It is nice to meet you.
Puppies are to treasure! Our son always finds our cat when he's feeling tender. It's my signal to take special note of his mood.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting that God's Word admonishes us to be tender-hearted? Anger and bitterness create the opposite response. Only through Christ can we go against our natural inclinations. ღ
Thanks for the reminder in how we should treat people. I like what e-mom said "Only through Christ can we go against our natural inclinations." Your picture and what you shared clearly illustrates that reminder. And I too loved the picture of the puppy! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you today!
Beautiful!! Love the scripture and the puppy! It is touching to see strong men speak softly to a baby animal or a baby. Blessings!
ReplyDeleteI love that verse and your precious picture.
ReplyDeleteDo you ever find it easier to let the bad attitude tones slip with our family - the ones we love most - as opposed to those strangers on the street or on the phone? Maybe thats just my trouble but certainly something that the Lord and I have been working on....
ReplyDeleteThe puppy photo - precious!!
Sweet picture. I have often heard that we should be willing to give as much grace as we have been given. His never runs out, neither should ours!
ReplyDeleteso cute! excited to hear more stories about the puppy!
ReplyDeleteawww! You won me with the puppy! I love labs (have one myself). Great post and scripture. I enjoyed myself immensely here. Will be back to hear more about your puppy. Can you post some pictures too?! I am an avid dog lover and my boy Darcy's pictures are on my sidebar at my blog [hint hint] lol.
ReplyDeleteA great picture with perfect words!
ReplyDeleteSo very sweet, love the puppy pic with the verse, perfect! Happy WFW and enjoy your new puppy!
ReplyDelete~ Melissa