“In this new life it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” Colossians 3:11-15 NLT
I don’t know about you, but I feel like for the past 10 months I’ve used the phrase “the state of our country” frequently. Here I am once again, viewing my social media thread and seeing such anger and hate from many directions. Mind you, I am not referring to differing opinions on Covid-19 or politics. I mean, good ole’ fashioned hate. I came across Chapter 3 of Colossians and could have legit typed out the entire chapter!
Looking at verse eleven we could easily swap out “Jew and Gentile” for “Democrat and Republican” or “COVID-19 is fake, and COVID-19 is real”. Paul tells us that none of that matters. Christ is the only thing that matters, and he lives in us! How many of us needed to hear that reminder?
Then he goes on to say that as chosen people we must clothe ourselves…it wasn’t a suggestion; we must put on or cover ourselves with certain characteristics. We must forgive just as He forgave us. Lastly, and most importantly we are to exude love, this should tie us together. Once we do all that, the peace of Jesus will rule our hearts. Especially as members of the body of Christ we will then live in peace and be thankful always.
I haven’t seen a whole lot of that going around. Admittedly, sometimes I forget to forgive like I was forgiven. I fail to clothe myself in gentleness and patience and while I try, I don’t always allow Christ to rule my heart. What if we all followed these verses, and not just check off one or two things on the list? What if it was all inclusive? What type of world would that be?
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