I Lived My Life By That

July 12th, 2023

by Bro. Craig Amenell
07/12/2023

Ephesians 4:32 - “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”

Children are funny creatures. First, they are experts at getting you to agree to things you didn’t realize you were agreeing to. They are also faithful to forget the things that you want them to remember, and they remember the things that you want them to forget.

Furthermore, children are experts at saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. I doubt this is a phenomenon reserved for my children. Most parents get nervous when someone begins a conversation with, “Your child told me…”.

One night I got a phone call from my mother-in-law to inform me that my son Bear had done something to his cousin Thomas. She explained that after she split them apart and consoled Thomas, she pulled Bear aside and asked him what he had to say for himself. He looked up at her nervously and said, “be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” My father-in-law started laughing and my mother-in-law became more cross. She thought that he was just being a smart aleck.

In reality, he was afraid of what was about to happen to him and blurted out what he believed she wanted to hear. What she didn’t realize was that in our home after any of my children are unkind to one another in any way, after reprimanding them and issuing a discipline or consequence, I end the discussion with reciting that verse.

Why that verse? It calls us to do our best to be kind to everyone, and when we are not or someone else is not, to exercise forgiveness. Not just to forgive the way humans half-heartedly forgive but specifically to the degree that God forgave us of our sins like Christ's death on the cross represents. A reminder that it was not anything that we did to earn or deserve our forgiveness but rather a matter of grace and that we would extend that same grace to others.

Sadly, there are other things that I have said in front of my children that, not only don’t carry this kind of power but rather, I would prefer them not repeat. I imagine I am not alone in this. You never know which of the things you say will have a lasting impact on your children’s lives. There have been many times that I regretted the things that I said in front of my children and hope they don’t remember it, and certainly hope they don’t live by it. However, if my son continues to remember this verse as he matures and applies its truths to how he lives his life he will honor the Lord.

Concerning this verse, I would most assuredly be happy to hear my son say when he is old, I lived my life by that. My prayer, not just for myself, but for all parents in our church family, is that our children would remember the truths of God's Word that we share with them and live thereby.