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Colossians 3:12-17 English Standard Version (ESV)
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. |
As I read these verses several things jump out at me. Firstly, we are reminded that we are chosen. That is awesome! God has looked on us and has called us by name, we are His! But that requires a response from us. We are called to be holy, to be set apart, and we are to look radically different from those around us. We are to ‘clothe ourselves’, literally put on, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. These things should be evident in our lives. We are to be forgiving and loving. And whose example are we following? Jesus. Our forgiveness is to be as His was – sacrificial and complete. Our love is to be as His was – selfless and perfect.
This might seem hard, unachievable, but we are not expected to do this alone. We are given the Holy Spirit and as we allow Him to dwell in our hearts we will find peace and joy and we are to do this in community. We are all part of one body and as we allow Christ to dwell in us He unites us. The words love, joy and peace take centre stage in our Christmas cards and our Carols. Will we allow them to take centre stage in our lives this Christmas?
Jocelyn C