12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.I love the way this passage starts. It's about urging us to be more godly, but the definition of our lives doesn't start with ourselves. Instead our identity starts with God. God chose us. He looked over the world and said, "Aha! I see [insert your name here]. That's my child. I will do everything in my power to show them that I love them." That's why Jesus came. That's why scripture exists. That's why we bother with each other day after day, Sunday after Sunday. It's not because of us--our intrinsic faults and merits--but because of God. God says we're loved, holy, and beautiful. Who are we to argue?
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Since we ARE holy and beloved, therefore, we should strive to make our lives reflect that. We clothe ourselves in compassion, making sure others know they are loved too and walking with them through all those situations which make them feel hurt, ashamed, or unloved. We are kind to each other, uplifting instead of degrading. We are humble...not with the false humility that says, "I am nothing" but with true humility, saying, "I am beautiful but God has made many beautiful things. I'm just glad to be a part of it!" We practice gentleness and patience, not enforcing our will or insisting on our own way but sacrificing our time, emotion, energy, and desire for the sake of the people around us.
Acknowledging that nothing in this world ever goes perfectly, including our own lives, we choose to forgive the ills of the world instead of clinging to them. Sin touches everything we do. It only sticks when we fail to forgive. Following our Lord, we refuse to let evil have the final say. We cannot defeat it on its own terms, fighting fire with fire. Instead we defeat it by forgiving, saying, "This will have no hold on me."
We do all this because we're in love with God and he with us. We embrace each other. We're bonded together. Since we're so tightly joined, we learn to love the things that God loves...almost like a parent or spouse learning to love the things their children or fellow spouse have a passion for. In God's case, the object of love is everyone around us. We don't love them because we think well of them, agree with them, are comfortable with them, or because they treat us well. We love them because God loves them.
In doing all this we receive the gift of peace, the inheritance of God's children. We are one with him. What more could we need? What could be taken away from us that he will not restore and multiply a hundredfold? For this we are thankful.
What beautiful verses these are! They wash over us, calming fears and calling us to something higher and more noble. Keep them in your heart today as you live them out!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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