Put off What Tears Down
AND PUT ON WHAT BUILDS UP
Paul turns from the general principles of putting off the old and putting on the new and provides specific aspects of the old life we need to do away with in Ephesians 4:25-31. But, far from this passage being a list of “don’ts” there is much for us to do as well. Because as we live the new life, we’re not just saying “no” to the old and broken but saying “yes” to the new and following Jesus into a better, blessed, and more beautiful kind of life together. A new life governed by love that does away with all the words and deeds that are incompatible with how God has spoken and acted toward us in Christ (4:32-5:2).