In Ephesians 4, Paul encourages members to put off the old man, and put on the new man in true righteousness and holiness. (4:24)

When I think of “putting on the new man”, it makes me think of someone completely transformed and perfected to the standard of Christ. Most of the time, it just feels like a goal that I’m still far from, and perhaps you feel that way too. In some aspects of our lives, we might have made changes for the better, to be more well-pleasing to God. Yet in other aspects, we still struggle to fight certain weaknesses and temptations, and we retain the characteristics of the old man in us. 

Ephesians 4 gives us a few practical things to consider as we try to pursue transformation into the new man, particularly focusing on the words we speak. 

Put away lying, speak the truth (4:25)

Speaking the truth can sometimes be harder than it seems, and telling a lie can be tempting. In a situation where someone might get hurt from us telling the truth, will we still do it? If telling the truth might lead to more conflict, will we still do it? Or if telling the truth might make us have to take on more work, what will we do?

In such circumstances, we may start to rationalise with ourselves, thinking that just telling a “small white lie” might be better, we protect others and perhaps ourselves too. Yet God’s standards are clear and unchanging – that we are not to lie.

“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.” (Proverbs 12:22) The next time we are tempted to tell a white lie or a half truth, just imagine that it is God that we are talking to, God who delights in the truth and not in lies. 

Speak words that bring edification, and imparts grace (4:29)

If we were to focus solely on the first part of verse 29, “let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth”, we may compare ourselves to others and think that we’re doing fine because we don’t curse and use as much vulgarities as them. But moving our focus to the second half of the verse, can we really say that all our words are edifying and impart grace? 

Gossiping is common, whether in school or in the workplace, and sometimes we may even convince ourselves that it is okay for us to gossip because we just need an outlet to unload our thoughts and be honest about our opinions on certain matters or people. But we know for sure that gossiping does not edify nor impart grace to the hearer. In fact, when one person starts to gossip, it often leads to more and more people joining in and adding fuel to the fire. 

Instead, let us take these thoughts to God in prayer, and ask God to help us manage these (usually) negative thoughts. Doing this might be harder, but it will serve as a filter between our thoughts and our words, so that the words we speak may always bring grace to those around us. 

Conclusion

Putting on the new man is something that we must pursue throughout our lifetime. While it may seem difficult, we can start small by reflecting on how we use our words in our daily lives. Do we always seek to speak the truth and speak words that impart grace?

James 3:2 “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”

May God teach us through our everyday lives to learn to bridle our tongues and not stumble in word, that we may be perfected into the new man in true righteousness and holiness.