Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

From Ephesians 4:25 until the end of the chapter, we have a profusion of “lets” culminating in these two verses. Paul writes about speaking the truth, putting aside anger, using our hands to do good, making sure our speech is edifying, and enjoining us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. With these verses, he’s building to something, and that something is verse 31, with its power and directness. This and the succeeding verse cover a lot of behavioral territory, and they wrap up a series of Paul’s thoughts about our relationships with others, particularly with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

If we take verse 31 seriously, it can be viewed as somewhere between challenging and terrifying. How can anyone “work through” all those feelings? The answer is simple: No one can. That’s why he doesn’t tell us to work through them, or conquer them in the way we might imagine.

He says to “let [them] be put away from you”. This is a call to release, a call to let these emotions go. This is where the hard work is, the “working out of our salvation” that has already been bought for us. If you remember that scripture (Philippians 2:12), you recall that we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. When we are faced with “letting all bitterness and wrath, etc. … be put away from [us],” we are often confronted by a barrage of anger, unforgiveness, and stubbornness when we go to God and first attempt to let all this be “put away” from us.

It’s easy to hold onto negative thoughts and emotions. Maybe we feel that the continual picking at an old wound will bring us a semblance of control, no matter how painful it might be to do that. Since forgiveness is often a process rather than a one-off, we might still be holding onto the offence as a kind of retribution to the offender, forgetting that part of the ongoing attack of our enemy is holding us hostage in the cage of unforgiveness. This is where our battle can be full of “fear and trembling” as we do battle to release and put these “gifts of the unholy spirit” away from us (and to Jesus) once and for all.

If you think that letting go is the easy way out, take a look at what you’re struggling with in the areas of “bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander.” It takes the power of God (so powerful), in association with our willingness (which can be very hard won at times). It’s often said that “old age isn’t for wimps.” Neither is this scripture.

For those struggling with putting away these things, remind your mind and heart that “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Even if letting go is hard, remember that the One who told you to put these things away is right there with you to move you toward victory. Here, conquering is letting go.