Ephesians Study
Chapter 4
Amplified Bible:
Ephesians 4: 28 — The thief [who has become a believer] must no longer steal, but instead he must work hard [making an honest living], producing that which is good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with those in need.
At first glance this text seems to be talking about behavior. I want to suggest that it is about so much more than behavior. The thief who has become a believer must not steal…we are all thieves that become believers a little at a time. We can take this literally (you have heard it said) or we can start seeing more deeply (but I tell you).
I believe that Paul is still calling us to a higher place than a mere assent to some standard of behavior. There are many different ways of stealing. There is a actual physical stealing of something, and there is a stealing from self and others that involves stealing identity, time, parameters, order, and harmony. These are often passive aggressive behaviors, but they do not have to be. There is the stealing from others because we have set a standard that is too high or inappropriate for the age and experience level…even the spiritual experience level.
Has the feminist movement or mankind stolen from women their intuition and inner knowing of what is true and how the world should be? We need to balance man’s knowing and doing with the intuition and ability of just being that helps women create their miracles.
When you receive the text on this level, it has something to say to each of us…not just the literal theft of things. A believer wants to steal no more. The working hard, I believe, may be the deliberate and painful work that comes from an outward gaze balanced by an inward gaze. We are looking at the behaviors that are stealing from ourselves and others, and the inward gaze asks the questions, why and how am I doing this or that?
In Matthew 5:45- 48, we are told that God sends the sun and rain on the just and unjust. He shows no partiality. You cannot by your “good works” buy the rain or sunshine. We are loved, and as a consequence the rain and sunshine is given to all. I bring this text in because the thief has a belief in poverty, inadequacy, lack, entitlement, insecurity, and invalidation in some way. Sometimes even our invalidation of self causes us to bring disharmony and disorder to the lives of others to be validated in that way. It is like the child who wants attention and even bad attention is better than no attention. It is a very subtle form of control (theft) no matter what age we are. We have all done it.
The purpose of this internal gaze is so that we will produce what is good with our own hands/heart. Instead of taking, we have something to share with the community or our sphere of influence to those in need. We are all in need. And as we stop thieving in these ways, the internal gaze helps us love ourselves and others. This love is the greatest gift that can be given to all of us…including loving ourselves. Do this exercise right now: tap on your heart, say: I’m sorry and I love you. Do it about a dozen times. Part of this experience is to see our connection to responsibility for everything and everyone. We all play a part in experiencing what we experience with each other. If we can honestly and lovingly say: I am responsible for this. I’m sorry and I love you (self and others), we will feel a profound sense of freedom and release. Change happens one person at a time, and it begins with you and me. I believe it is the living out of the love that we are to give ourselves and each other about which Jesus spoke/modeled.
How else are we thieves? Control over life and over others is a type of theft. It can and does move into manipulation of all kinds which is really fear. In John 1:16: “And of His fullness we have received, and grace for grace.” I use this verse because it reminds of what we already have, what we are seeking by our control efforts…His fullness. We are rich if we quit comparing ourselves to a perception of others and their things and life. The extremes of lack or arrogance is just our measurement against each other and it is perception….not truth. The truth is in this verse that we have received of His fullness.
Another theft we experience is to be held captive by the past…traumas, hurts, lies, hardships, wounds, emotional and spiritual inheritances…anything that steals the joy and quality of today and tomorrow. Sometimes, we get stuck there…like an inheritance of non-joy in life because it has been received as a genetic template of sorts. It is not really yours; it’s your ancestors. More often than not, when you or someone else is stuck and cannot get out of the trap, it is inheritance.
You can do all the positive affirmations and positive thinking techniques, but this stuff is not yours. It’s hitch hiking so to speak.
All physical, spiritual, and emotional inheritances do that you know. While all of this may be true, the greater truth is that we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. To not give God the credit and honor of this deliverance is another type of theft. One of the greater forms of theft from God is to remain a victim when He has done so much to set us free and instead of walking in faith of the freedom, we continue to walk in the senses (feelings). In this way, the external is always controlling us…another theft that we allow.
There are the examples of studying counterfeit money or studying healthy blood cells. They spend a great deal of time looking at the true. They cannot look at all the false because it is always being created. Many of us have had lives that seem to be an endless revelation of the bad stuff. This steals our joy and, therefore, our present and future. We have to become more grounded in what is true of us in Jesus Christ. That is based in fact and we walk in the faith of Jesus Christ not the feelings that are from the pit of hell.
Second Corinthians 6:1 tells us that we are God’s co-workers. First Corinthians 12:27 says that we are members of Christ’s body. These are some of the truths of our identity. Do not steal from that identity and believe a lie about yourself and others. The devil is a thief, liar, and murderer. Stand your ground in the truth.
