In Ephesians 4:31-32 Paul writes: “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” This passage gives some vital instruction on how Christians are to get along with each other.
The apostle presents the negative side first. There are certain things which are out: 1- Bitterness (long-standing resentment), 2- Wrath (outbreaks of passion), 3- Anger (long-lived anger), 4- Clamour (loud talking and insulting language), 5- Malice. As Christians we should work to remove all these from our lives.
Next the apostle presents the positive side. He says, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.” We are all imperfect human beings. We will not be able to live at peace with our brother if we demand perfection from him while we ourselves are yet imperfect. The Christian attitude toward an imperfect brother should be one of kindness, tenderheartedness and forgiveness. When Christians manifest this attitude toward one another, Satan is hard pressed to disrupt the harmony of God’s people.
Claude