Tag Archives: Ephesians 4

My Green Thumb Pursuit Continues!

June 30, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:16 (NIV)

It’s summer, and here at Vander Well Manor my annual pursuit to develop a green thumb is in full swing. For anyone who has followed my posts or podcasts for any length of time has heard me speak of my life-long brown thumb and inability to keep plants alive and growing. But, I’m not giving up. This year Wendy got her cactus to bloom. I started an indoor herb garden this winter that has been highly successful for a long time. I even transplanted a couple of them and moved them outdoors and they are doing well. Then, the indoor herb garden became a breeding ground for little fruit fly type bugs, so I’m having to start over with that.

It’s a process. And, I’m getting better.

In today’s chapter, Paul shifts the subject of his letter to Jesus’ followers in Ephesus from the supremacy of Christ Jesus to the difference this should make in the lives of those who believe. Belief is not the endgame, but the entrance of a life-long journey that is a process of growing, maturing, developing, and becoming. Paul describes the endgame of this journey in today’s chapter too:

...so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

That’s like me and my brown thumb becoming a master gardener.

He goes on to describe the journey to that destination as one of a perpetual growth cycle in which I am constantly “putting off” things such as:

falsehood,
anger,
mooching off of others,
worthless and ‘unwholesome’ conversation,
bitterness,
rage,
slander,
and malice.

Instead of allowing those things to take over like weeds in my garden, I am constantly learning and growing in character qualities such as:

honesty,
truthfulness,
peace,
hard work,
generosity,
worthwhile conversation,
encouragement,
mentoring others,
kindness,
compassion,
and forgiveness.

It’s a perpetual spiritual growth process. It’s learning how to develop a spiritual green thumb in which my life becomes a garden of life-giving, growing, and fruitful thoughts, words, relationships, work, and community.

Like developing a green thumb it takes time. If happens in fits and starts. Mistakes are made. Things die. Weeds take over. Bugs breed. But lessons are learned, and as I persevere there is more growth than withering, more life than death, more fruit and blooms and less weeds and bugs.

This weekend in separate occasions we had friends over for some life-giving conversation and refreshment. I was able to offer and make some refreshing summer cocktails made with fresh basil and mint from my herb garden. It was a lot of fun.

In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that being a disciple of Jesus and developing a green thumb are basically the same pursuit.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

Word Budget

November 25, 2024 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

Yesterday, like most Sundays, Wendy and I were the last ones out of the Auditorium after worship. We were talking to people. It was more than just casual conversation. One friend is having surgery tomorrow, and it’s a rather complicated procedure to remove a cancerous mass. Another friend is having tests this week to identify what could be a different form of cancer. Another friend is struggling with a stubborn, aging parent. These are good conversations. We’re sharing the things of life with one another, encouraging one another, and bearing one another’s burdens.

Eventually the crowd thinned out and it was just Wendy and me with another couple. Our conversation continued as we walked out of the Auditorium. It continued on the steps outside the building.

I remember thinking to myself, “One of us needs to call an end to this conversation, or we’ll be standing here all afternoon!”

Talk about a good problem to have!

It is said that the average person speaks 16,000 words a day. I am going to say something today, but do I actually have something to say that’s worthwhile? The further I get in the journey, the more I find myself mindful of how I invest my words. I have a daily budget of words that I’m going to spend. How am I going to spend them? Will they be a worthy investment or will I waste them? Am I going to say things that are worthwhile and contribute to relationships and goodness to others? Are my conversations about the things of Life and Spirit or are they wasted on trivial nothingness? Are my words positive and encouraging or negative and critical?

In today’s chapter, Paul urges Jesus’ disciples in Ephesus to give consideration to the words that are coming out of their mouths. He wants them to invest their words so there is a return on investment. He wants them to speak the words others need to hear. He expects a beneficial outcome for the receiver of the words.

I’m reminded in the quiet this morning that Jesus said, “Everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36) Funny, I’ve never seen that one plastered on trinkets at the Christian bookstore. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard a message preached on it either. I might have to do that when I’m given the opportunity to give a message someday. It seems to me that it would be a worthwhile investment of my words.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Out with the Old, In with the New

May 6, 2019 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24 (NIV)

A couple of weeks ago Wendy and I went through a process of going through ever article of clothing we own. All the closets were emptied along with the drawers, boxes, bins, and racks. We went through everything and then had discussions about keeping, selling, pitching, and giving. It took a few hours on two different Saturdays, but it was well worth the time. What was left was manageable and organized. Having taken a thoughtful inventory, it became clear in the process where there are opportunities to update and improve.

In today’s chapter, Paul mentions a similar process of spiritual inventory and life change. As you break it down in the English translation, there are three distinct steps in the process:

Put off your old self. What old habits am I hanging on to, even though they haven’t served me well? Why do I cling to behaviors that only cause me and my loved ones pain and problems? What immature appetites do I continue to indulge when nothing good or worthwhile comes of it?
Be made new in the attitude of the mind. The word “repent” has gotten a bad rap in our culture, conjuring up images of fire-and-brimstone preachers spewing condemnation. It’s a good word, however, and Jesus was clear that following Him required decision and change. Paul tells me in that the process of old-to-new life change starts with my mind and attitude. Willingness, desire, and openness to change coupled with a conscious decision to act.
Put on a new self. When I empty out the old, I find myself all of a sudden with room. If I don’t consciously make wise choices of what to do with the time and space, then I’m only going to find myself cluttering up with the same old junk. Then I’m back to where I began. Once I’ve cleaned up the old, I need to intentionally change how I fill up the Life-space.

I continue to be pleasantly surprised how much better I feel about something as simple and silly as my wardrobe and closet after working through what ended up being a very simple process. I’m reminded by today’s chapter that the same process works more meaningful and worthwhile things in life.

I write this on a Monday morning. The beginning of a new work week is a good morning to meditate on things that I need to “put off,” decisions that need to be made, and new things that I need to “put on” in life.

Chapter-a-Day

I Haven’t Arrived, but I’ve Got a Good Set of Directions

April 23, 2014 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13 (NIV)

I so regularly use the word picture of “journey” because it captures so perfectly for me the reality of movement, progress, and destination in this life.

When I was a young man I felt a compulsion to be and to appear perfect. I didn’t want others to see or honestly know me with all my human failures. My sense shame and the appearances I put on to mask it only weighed me down and hampered my progress. Somewhere along the way, however, I came to realize that while entering a relationship with Jesus immediately changed my eternal reality, here on Earth I was still the same bozo on the bus that I’d always been still trying to find my way home.

Following Jesus didn’t result in me getting immediately teleported to my destination. I still have to slog through the journey day-by-day like everybody else. The real difference is that now I have a trustworthy Guide and a great set of directions. Honestly accepting this truth allowed me to have a little more grace with myself and with others. I haven’t arrived, and neither has that guy who pisses me off or the lady over there who irritates the crap out of me. I haven’t reached fullness, wholeness, or maturity and neither have they. We’re all bozos on the bus together, and I’ve got to have realistic expectations of myself and others. I know I’m pointed in the right direction, I’m following Jesus, and I’m making progress.

Just keep moving. It’s not a sprint, it’s more like an Iron Man marathon.

Slow and steady wins the race.