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● Eph 4:32 . . Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each
other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Within the context of the letter Paul wrote and sent to the Christians residing
in the ancient city of Ephesus; the objects "one another" and "each other"
are exclusive; viz: the comments refer only to one's fellow Bible-believing
Christians rather than the world at large. So if you're unwilling to be kind
and compassionate to outsiders; at least be so with people at church so as
to help prevent church from becoming a hostile worship environment.
The Greek word translatred "kind" is chrestos (khrase-tos') which means:
employed; viz: useful.
Chrestos is found in only seven places in the New Testament, and without
exception implies being beneficial to others for their own good rather than
using people to benefit your own self.
The word for "compassionate" is eusplagchnos (yoo'-splangkh-nos) which
means: sympathetic.
Webster's defines sympathy as: 1) an affinity, association, or relationship
between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the
other, 2) inclination to think or feel alike: emotional or intellectual accord, 3)
feeling of loyalty: tendency to favor or support, 4) the act, or capacity, of
entering into or sharing the feelings or interests of another, 5) sensitivity,
and 6) heart; as in "have a heart".
Eusplagchnos would make a good substitute for a word found in one of The
Lord's beatitudes.
"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." (Matt 5:7)
"merciful" is from the word eleemon (el-eh-ay'-mone) which means pretty
much the same thing as eusplagchnos: compassionate and sympathetic.
It used to be that Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts were trained to be useful to
others as just simply a matter of good deeds and good citizenship. I don't
know, maybe they still are; but I've known lots of churchians who were
totally useless to others because they're infected with an ugly spirit of
conceit, rivalry, and indifference. Far from being kind and compassionate;
those Christians are actually sociopathic and don't even know it.
The word "forgiving" is charizomai (khar-id'-zom-ahee) which essentially
means: to grant as a favor; viz: gratuitously, i.e. courtesy.
Webster's defines gratuitous as: 1) given unearned or without recompense,
2) not involving a return benefit or compensation or consideration, 3)
costing nothing: free, 4) not called for by the circumstances: unwarranted,
5) complimentary, 6) gratis, and 7) voluntary. In other words; charizomai
seeks no reciprocation; it never says "you owe me one"
Sailors are oft heard to say that the sea is very unforgiving: meaning it
allows no room for error or weakness. Christians ought not be like the sea.
We ought to be the most forgiving people on the planet; and not because we
expect others to reciprocate; but just because we enjoy being gratuitous.
For some Christians though, courtesy is an effort.
Eph 4:31-32 isn't easy. What we're looking at there is not just good
citizenship; no, what we're looking at is something divine in both its nature
and its behavior.
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