Ephesians 4:32; And What it Means to all People!! By Anthony Joseph Hopkins July 3, 2021

        Ephesians 4:32 says; And be ye kind to one another. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.  This means that we must learn how to be kind one another, forgiving one another, even as Christ has forgiven you.  I remember when I was growing up in Dayton, Ohio during the 1970s and 1980s.  I used to get mistreated by everyone that I had come in contact with except my grandparents.

 I know for me personally, I have forgiven everyone who used to beat me up all of the time.  It seems like every time I forgive someone for the bad that they had treated me.  These people used to constantly fight me for nothing.  All of this has caused me to become angry at myself and others. 
I want to say that anytime a person grows up being abused and mistreated, 9 out of 10 times, you might mistreat others yourself.  I am going to be frank with everyone.  I have been angry for so long that it has affected me, and the relationships that I have with other people.  I used to get mistreated by my step-father all of the time.  This is simply because he knew that I was not his son. 

        The only question that I have to ask everyone is how do you learn how to treat other people right?  First, a person must have your mind made up.  The love of God must be inside of our hearts.  The Holy Spirit must be inside of you, and working inside of you.  How do you learn how to forgive another person?  It is more than saying I am sorry.  It is a learned behavior that must be taught by our parents.  I have learned how to forgive others by being around my mother, grandmothers, and grandfathers.  I learned by attending church.  I want to inform all of you that do not be deceived, evil company corrupts good character. 

Therefore, my friends at the time were not good people to be around.  They were gang members and people who did wrong all of the time.  My friends smoked marijuana and drunk beer all the time.  Some of my friends were very good to me as a person.  There were friends who taught me how to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana.  This is the reason why I felt skeptical because I was looking for something good from each person.  When I saw my friends drinking alcohol, and smoking marijuana, I felt depressed.  My good friends did not want to hang around me because I did not have any money.  As soon as we got older, my friends were getting locked up inside of prison for years. 

Finally, I want to inform all of you that it is not easy growing up inside of the inner city of Dayton, Ohio.  The inner city is where all of the illegal activities were located.  I prayed to God for help living in the inner city.  I might have been a product of the inner city, but I have become successful.  I do hang around people who attend church, and doing good in their personal lives.  I read my Bible every single day of the week.

 I pray all of the time.  I ask God to follow me everywhere I go.  I pray to God that I do not use any vulgarity.  I pray to God that I do not smoke and drink alcohol and marijuana.  I do not have sex before marriage anymore.  I do not look at women as sex objects anymore.  I respect women for who they are in their lives.  I surround myself with positive things.

  I attend Fort McKinley United Methodist Church in Dayton, Ohio.  I am a child of God right now.  I might make mistakes in my life.  I read my Bible each day.  Thank you, Lord Jesus, for saving me from myself.  I remember when I attempted suicide on February 13, 2010.  I had to stay inside of Miami Valley Hospital for six days.  I have a suicide clause on my insurance policy.  My sister saved my life by calling the ambulance because I had taken all of my medication at that time.  I was surrounded by scammers and computer hackers.  Right now, I have been suicide free for the past 11 years now.  I do not deal with computer hackers and scammers anymore.  Thank you for reading my essay.