Itemizing a list of applications, Paul continues to expound on what it means to walk worth of our calling (Eph 4:1). Bitterness, the first in our section today, acts like a soul-destroying cancer. Often it lurks below the surface only to arise when provoked by a memory, a slight or a past or present injustice. It can lead to either spiritual depression or excessive assertiveness (in the form of criticism, cynicism, resentment). It can grab hold of a person’s mind and emotions, imprisoning them in the thoughts and pains of the past. It is, to use the next two terms in verse 31, wrath or anger covered over but still seething inside like the inner rumblings of a volcano, ready to explode without warning. Attempting to suppress anger never works, it only drives the emotion underground where it simmers. That is not victory over the sin nature, rather it is simply redirecting it inward where the damage is much more subtle.

Bitterness must be dealt with along with the wrath and anger that feed it. There is a relationship between bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander and malice—they are all of the same substance, with varying degrees of action. Bitterness is inward, malice at the other end of the spectrum is outward. We are to put them all “away,” lay them aside like dirty, stinking clothes.

Preventative measures are always best. “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled  (Hebrews 12:15). Bitterness when it takes hold, is a difficult weed to get rid of. Grace is the key, and is mentioned twelve times in the letter to the Ephesians. The positive antidote of grace is being proactive in our Christlikeness toward others. The action items come to the fore: being kind is the first. This is the opposite of malice. Malice is when I do something to hurt another. Kindness is when I do something good for another. The second is “tenderhearted,” which gives integrity to our actions of kindness.

Finally, there is forgiveness. We need to willingly forgive one another because we all fail from time to time in laying aside the old “Gentile” ways, and we don’t always act in ways that are “putting on Christ.” Forgiveness is the basis of a sinner’s relationship to God, and it is also the basis of a sinner’s relationship to other sinners. This grace is key to Christian unity and harmony.