"Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." - Ephesians 5:18b-20
You do not need to be the famous Dietrich Bonhoeffer or any other famous person.
You only need to be you.
You only need to be you to "be filled with the Spirit" and address one another in the ways God speaks of in today's verses.
It is not minimizing "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (Ephesians 5:19) to say that speaking to one another in "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" means speaking to one another 1) from the bottom of your heart (psalms), 2) thoughtfully (hymns), 3) about the matters that are weighing on your heart (spiritual songs), trusting that this call is in the Bible because this is how God works in our relationships to build up everyone.
Everyday, as a pastor, I experience one consistent thread in every pastoral care and counseling conversation, namely, people either don't feel connected to others, or they do feel connected because their conversations are 1) from the bottom of the heart (psalms), 2) thoughtful (hymns), and 3) about the matters that are weighing on one's heart (spiritual songs).
It's not about being touchy-feely. It's about honesty.
So let's pray for one another. For the person in front of you. Consciously thinking, "how can I make room for this person to be real with me?"
Lord, please help us to start by being real with them, trusting you, speaking thoughtfully from the bottom of our heart about the matters that are weighing on their heart, and "giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:18b-20)
Praise God!
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