| Colossians 3: 12-17 |
| 12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. |
Peace
These verses are perhaps not usually linked with the Christmas story. They don’t talk about Bethlehem or the birth of Jesus, which we celebrate and give thanks for at Christmas. However, the person born in Bethlehem features strongly in these verses.
Verse 15 talks about ‘the peace of Christ’. Verse 16 talks about ‘the message of Christ’. Verse 17 tells us that whatever we do, we should ‘do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him’.
In verse 15, peace is a subject that is familiar at Christmas.
It was the shepherds who got a huge surprise from the angels one night as recorded in Luke 2; “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favour rests.”
In many ways, Jesus is linked with peace. When He came, He provided a way for sinful people to find peace with God, because He came to bring sinful people and sinless God back together. This also allows us to have peace in our hearts as we have the guarantee of salvation. But Colossians 3 v 15 tells us to ‘let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts’. One book says that when we obey the will of God, we have His peace within us; but when we step out of His will, we lose His peace.
This Christmas may we all know the peace with God that Jesus brings, know peace in our hearts that salvation brings, and also do our best to do what verse 15 says, ‘to let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts’.
Cameron P