“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4: 29-32
What does it mean no corrupting come out of your mouths?
Corrupt:
having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain.
“unscrupulous logging companies assisted by corrupt officials”
(of a text or a computer database or program) made unreliable by errors or alterations.
Do you know someone who talks to have personal gain? Do they talk at you instead of to you? Look at this list of words that are a synonym for the word Corrupt:
dishonest,
unscrupulous,
dishonorable,
unprincipled,
unethical,
amoral
,untrustworthy,
venal,
underhanded,
double-dealing,
fraudulent,
bribable,
criminal,
illegal,
unlawful,
nefarious;
informal
Going through those words, did you notice any that are truthful with yourself? There was a time in my life that I was a few of those above words. And I am not proud of it. Maybe you thought of a couple people that you know. Maybe it is a close friend. Does God want us to associate with these kind of people? Should we be friends with someone who is corrupt?
I personally think God wants us to have boundaries. He never tells us to not be friends with them. He simply tells us not to hang out with them on a regular basis. Ourselves will turn corrupt if we hang out with corrupt. What do your friends seem to be like? Are they loving? Or are they bribing, dishonest, untrustworthy, etc?
Once we are saved; it is hard to break away from the same friends we hung around. It is hard to be tenderhearted toward people who are corrupt. When I hung out with corrupt friends when I was in Middle School they asked me to yell things out to other students. Did I want to? NO! Did I mistakenly take the dare? Unfortunately, Yes. I felt terrible afterwards. But, did I ever apologize? No! Was I corrupt? Darn straight I was! I have no explanation as to why I would do something so cruel. Why I would hurt someones feelings. I was rude, inconsiderate. Granted I did not do this a lot. I only did it when I was around the other so called “friends”. Which, God looking out for me, was extremely seldom.
This week check your “friends” list. And if you have kiddos… check their friends list too. Be aware of who your kids hang out with. Today’s world is very cruel and if your son/daughter picks the wrong kids, they will follow how their friends are.
MUCH LOVE!!
Living through life for Christ 