(Ephesians 4:31) “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:” 

The “new man” is the answer to just about every personal division and dispute in the Church. Bitterness and wrath build up on the inside when hurt is not resolved. Anger is the by-product. Then it all spills over to the outside and out of the mouth comes clamour (literally an “outcry”) and evil speaking. All of this becomes the status quo between two people, two families or even two groups when they continue to allow the hurt to churn. The Body of Christ is divided when we try to resolve these things in the flesh.

Notice the word “Let” and the phrase “be put away” are both passive. It means we are the recipient of the action of putting away, not the initiator. Who is the one “putting away?” It is the “new man” operating under the direction and power of God’s Word empowered by the Holy Spirit! When we “put on the new man” (Eph 4:24) the old self-life is no longer in charge of the situation. The emotions that consumed our mind are replaced with love and mercy stemming from the mind of Christ. His thinking replaces our thinking and as a result His words replace our words.

We need local churches filled with the Body of believers operating out of the “new man.” We need a fresh understanding of what it means to be crucified with Christ and raised with Him. This is the core of the “new man” life. Walking in this identity would allow us to lay aside our disputes and see them for the pettiness they really are. We would see families united, love rekindled for each other, marriages saved and friendships salvaged. The barriers and divisions that seem so large in the “old man” would turn into dust when viewed from the eyes of the “new man.”

(1 Corinthians 14:20) “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.”

Renewed Thought – Are we more interested in being consumed with God than consuming each other?