The reality is all people have a problem with really getting honest. Honest with others and honest with ourselves. It’s probably the reason God has so much to say about in His Big Book the bible. Here are just a few quotes about taking an inventory from the Bible… (See sheet)
In addition to scripture’s encouragement to do an inventory, we have to realize that their is a real benefit to doing an inventory. We can’t get rid of what we don’t know is hurting us unless we are ready to face the truth. Get Honest.
That being said today’s piece of scripture was written by Paul, formerly Saul. Paul was a former Pharisee. A Pharisee of that day would be like some of the same kind of people we all have a problem with today. You know the type. The guy or gal who thinks that life is about doing it right. Whatever right is. In Paul’s time, it meant following all 600 plus of Jewish laws so that you can earn a place with God at the end of this run, we call life. Paul was one of those, who became a Christian because of a single event in which God struck him down. That bottom changed his life. From which, He became this absolutely driven individual to share the very cool message of Jesus Christ. However, his driven nature put him in a ton of bad situations. It’s that old AA saying, What do you get when you sober up a drunken horse thief? A horse thief. Paul would not be silent because he now knew he had the solution. Hence, he was writing this letter from jail. He was writing it to a group he’d like to hang out with more in a town called Ephesus. This is what he said to his friend who believed as he did. This is Ephesians 4:25-32
Scripture reading here
This is a perfect scripture for us because it’s all about cleaning your side of the street. The AA book states in Step Four that we: “Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves” as a part of the recovery process. In the AA 12 and 12, this also includes a review of the seven deadly sins: Pride, Greed, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy and sloth. Paul is saying the same thing. In fact, Paul is trying to be a little more positive about the whole journey by stating from the start that a) you were created by God and B) You were created in His image and therefore we were made for good. To get there, He begins to stress the things that should be in a person’s inventory.
1) V25 asks, “Are you truthful?” There are two types of honesty A) Cash register (explain external honesty) and B) Internal (Who are you really? The character inside everyone of us)
2) He moves on to, do you have any resentment? If you do, you need to get rid of them because they lead all of us back into a state of real stress. In times of stress we revert back into our old ways of managing life. For those of us trying to recover, we gravitate towards the quick fix. It may not be the drug of choice but it can be just as detrimental.
3) Have you stolen from anyone? He extends this to relationships, work and processions. Anywhere your instincts run amok you are stealing from somebody and normally it has three facets: You, the people around you and God. Take for example Pride – With pride you’re stealing from others to build your own self esteem at the expense of theirs. You are also stealing from God by not acknowledging who’s really in control. Finally, you are stealing from yourself by cheating yourself out of relationships which can provide your life real meaning.
4) Paul then tells us that any inventory needs to include looking at your actions? Have you served anybody but yourself? Nothing provides a truer reflection of us than an honest reflection of our actions. This is main reason for step four. You can’t change directions until you know where you’ve been.
5) Paul moves on to swearing? Yes. However, it means more than you think. It’s not just the creative vernacular. However, how we speak does say a lot about us. Specifically, he’s asking have you ever had a conversation where you have ripped another so as to build yourself up.
6) He then tells everyone in verse 31 and 32 to get rid of every form of Malice? Malice is defined as a hope someone else suffers, envy for someone else’s stuff and I would go so far as to say getting upset for what the world does to you! He knew this would be a problem so he gives us some ways to change: be kind, be compassionate, Forgive with no strings attached and is this context, forgive like Christ.
This is the key to a life beyond your wildest dreams.
Verse 30 relays this promise by talking about being “sealed and redeemed.” Another great set of terms which mean that as Christians we understand that we’re all going to be immoral and there is no real way helping ourselves to be good and blameless but that through our belief in Jesus, we are going to heaven. The only condition to getting into heaven is belief in Jesus Christ. A belief that God would, could and did become man and that he suffered died and rose for the explicit purpose of fixing a problem that man created and couldn’t fix himself. Paul is asking the Ephesians, to take an inventory of their behavior in light of this, repent (another fancy word for step 5, 6 and 7) and we begin walk the path of change.
Step Four is the stethoscope for what really ails us. The next steps are the cure. So are you ready to do your inventory?
If you would like to know more about the author: https://communitycenter.life/rev-robert-butler-info
