Ephesians 4: 28-29 (Being made new in all things including speech)

            Summary:  Paul is furthermore exhorting of practicing life at a higher standard of holiness.  He urges thieves to no longer steal for their living but rather work honestly for their wages.  He then urges the believer’s in Ephesus to talk in a manner that is helpful to building up the body.                   

            Note: Paul illustrates what a changed life looks like in the life of a thief.

            Note: The word used for labor here literally means “to grow weary.”

Timeless Principle:  Paul uses this passage to illustrate what a truly changed life looks like.  A thief should so be changed that his thievery is thrown away such that he might willingly trade his easy (lazy) lifestyle for a lifestyle of work that drives him to grow weary in intense labor so much so that he is giving a portion away.  A giving thief is not something we here very often.  Christ does not halfway change people, he does not leave things incomplete. A true sign of repentance is like that which Paul personifies with a thief here. 

This also may be interpreted not only from another perspective other than a thief.  Paul often accentuates that a man should be a man and work hard to earn his keep (see 2 Thess. 3).  Paul was not content to live off of those whom he stayed with on his journeys but rather he toiled for all that he got becoming like those he was staying with.  Everything he did bore a purpose and was driven by the Gospel.  This is how we should be, constantly earning our own such that we might earn respect from the world thereby allowing us to share the Gospel without getting cross looks like a Donald Trump in a trailer park.  May the world never look at us and scoff at the truth of the Gospel simply because we are not living a life that is marked by It.  But rather let them only have reason to hate it because it is deadly to them.

Paul also comments here about the daily communion between believers.  He is transcribing that we should behave towards one another in a way that builds each other up.  It is critical for stabilizing the body and holding unity.  To often we are content to chop down our brothers and sisters for our own selfish gain, to make us look of feel good.  In doing so we essentially mock Christ’s prayer in John 14 and perform the opposite of bearing with one another in love.  We create a barrier of hostility between each other despite the fact that Christ died to tear it down.  May all our speech be edifying and soft towards one another, encouraging one another such that we may be united in a single cause of becoming more like Christ.  Failure to practice this essential will result in pain for those who are involved and hurt the church’s ministry.