Bible Verse of the Day for October 21, 2026

The verses beside it

Ephesians 4:30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:31. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

Ephesians 4:32. Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

Where this verse sits

Ephesians 4 moves from the unity of the Spirit to the old life the church is to put off. Verse 30 warns them not to grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom they were sealed for the day of redemption. Verse 31 lists what has to go: bitterness, rage, anger, shouting, slander, malice. Verse 32 replaces that list with kindness, a tender heart, and mutual forgiveness modeled on God’s forgiveness in Christ. The next verses, in chapter 5, will say to imitate God and walk in love. Read 4:25 through 5:2. The kindness is the aftermath of a real eviction.

Reflection

Kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness are commanded in a paragraph that has just told the church to get rid of bitterness, rage, anger, outcry, slander, and malice. The pattern is not a personality type. It is “just as in Christ God forgave you.” A community sealed by the Spirit for the day of redemption grieves that Spirit when the old speech stays in the room. Forgiveness here is specific enough to name an each other. Tenderhearted does not mean undecided about evil. It means the evil you suffered does not get to set the temperature of the church.

A prayer from this verse

“Father, You forgave me in Christ, and I have been keeping a ledger on people who share this church. Strip out the bitterness I have renamed as discernment. Make me kind and tenderhearted toward the particular person I keep rehearsing, and let my forgiveness resemble Yours. Amen.”

One action: Speak one kind sentence today to the person your anger has been describing unfairly, and destroy the private version of the story you have been polishing.