"25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 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. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."
Ephesians 4:25-32
Before we leave these verses we must say something about 30, by far the most important verse, 'Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.' Nothing could emphasise more decisively how unthinkable and inexcusable it is for the believer to let the sins mentioned in this unholy catalogue reign in his mortal body; for when we sin, we hurt not only ourselves, but also the Holy Spirit, the honoured Guest Who dwells in our hearts. The Christian life is above all else a fellowship, a personal relationship with Christ, by the Spirit. And sin is an infringement of that relationship. As to the way to safeguard against any such infringement we may consider how it was with Simon Peter when he transgressed in denying his Lord. In the striking 'resurrection' appearance by the Sea of Galilee our Lord's challenge to him was not a rebuke about the failure of his faith or of his theology but a failure of his love. 'Lovest thou Me?' is what was said. Love is a constituent element of genuine faith - 'faith worketh by love' - and love to Christ is necessary within the context of Romans 6 and Galatians 2:20, and makes the whole thing work. It is this that produces expansiveness of spirit - kindness, tender-heartedness and forgiveness. How deeply we should covet this! To be able to say 'My Jesus, I love Thee' and to mean it - and for Him to know that we mean it - this is what will keep us true to Him and to our fellows, day by day, and all the days.