The Letter to the Ephesians has some remarkable content. The latter part of the fourth chapter begins to lay out a "guide to the new life" in Christ: instructions that will help us "put away the former way of life" and "be renewed in the spirit of our minds . . .clothing ourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God."
These instructions include:
--Let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we belong to each other. As we learn to do this, put away falsehood.
--Be angry but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger.
--Practice gracious talk. Let only what is useful for building up come out of your mouths, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
--Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. As you do that, put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice.
If we commit ourselves to these things, it will be a new way of living in the world, right where we are, that works towards the unity God intends. As we engage these positive practices, learning them by heart, negative practices will be displaced. These are ethics to be claimed and embodied.
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