Daily Bread 2010 - Colossians 3
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3 is another one of Paul’s classic chapters that really summarizes the whole Christian life. The church at Colossae was struggling with many of the same things as the church of Ephesus. Believers were starting to return to old patterns of living and false teaching was infiltrating the church. Some of the teaching was as follows: “the body is bad so you should either be an ascetic (renounce all worldly pleasure), or a be a hedonist (give in because it is all good!)”. These are both extremes and of course not what Jesus taught us.
Rather than just focusing on the negatives (the vice list in verses 5-11) Paul gives the positive proscription for dealing with the lusts of the flesh that we all still contend with as we seek to live out our Christian lives. Paul uses the words “clothe yourselves”, meaning it is an “act of the will”, just like putting on our own clothes each day. And specifically he says to clothe yourselves with: “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”. Notice these are all fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5. This is important because we cannot create these virtues on our own, but it is God’s work in us as we submit ourselves to His work.
Finally in verses 15-17 we see the words, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”, and “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish each other”.
Notice all of this language is in the context of being in Christian community. As we seek to live the lives which Jesus intends for us, and the lives we’ve always wanted, we can’t do it alone. We need encouragement, we need places to discuss God’s word together, we need places to be accountable and be prayed for. As we seek these things the “Peace of Christ” can and will rule in our hearts. Folks all of this is possible today. And it is what the world needs now! The world needs to see why Christianity is the way, the truth and the life by the way we live out our faith together in the body of Christ.
As you look at your life is it characterized by compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience? You may spend a lot of time making sure your clothing is acceptable and you look cool, but are you clothed with the virtues that show the world you are in Christ! By letting God’s Peace and His Word dwell in you, and fixing your eyes on Him these qualities and virtues can become a reality for you.
Let’s pray, God we want to have more of these qualities and we know we can’t manufacture them in and of ourselves. May Your Peace and Word rule in our hearts and minds as we do life together as brothers and sisters in Christ’s name, Amen
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3 is another one of Paul’s classic chapters that really summarizes the whole Christian life. The church at Colossae was struggling with many of the same things as the church of Ephesus. Believers were starting to return to old patterns of living and false teaching was infiltrating the church. Some of the teaching was as follows: “the body is bad so you should either be an ascetic (renounce all worldly pleasure), or a be a hedonist (give in because it is all good!)”. These are both extremes and of course not what Jesus taught us.
Rather than just focusing on the negatives (the vice list in verses 5-11) Paul gives the positive proscription for dealing with the lusts of the flesh that we all still contend with as we seek to live out our Christian lives. Paul uses the words “clothe yourselves”, meaning it is an “act of the will”, just like putting on our own clothes each day. And specifically he says to clothe yourselves with: “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”. Notice these are all fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5. This is important because we cannot create these virtues on our own, but it is God’s work in us as we submit ourselves to His work.
Finally in verses 15-17 we see the words, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”, and “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish each other”.
Notice all of this language is in the context of being in Christian community. As we seek to live the lives which Jesus intends for us, and the lives we’ve always wanted, we can’t do it alone. We need encouragement, we need places to discuss God’s word together, we need places to be accountable and be prayed for. As we seek these things the “Peace of Christ” can and will rule in our hearts. Folks all of this is possible today. And it is what the world needs now! The world needs to see why Christianity is the way, the truth and the life by the way we live out our faith together in the body of Christ.
As you look at your life is it characterized by compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience? You may spend a lot of time making sure your clothing is acceptable and you look cool, but are you clothed with the virtues that show the world you are in Christ! By letting God’s Peace and His Word dwell in you, and fixing your eyes on Him these qualities and virtues can become a reality for you.
Let’s pray, God we want to have more of these qualities and we know we can’t manufacture them in and of ourselves. May Your Peace and Word rule in our hearts and minds as we do life together as brothers and sisters in Christ’s name, Amen
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