DEVELOPING LOVE IN THE BODY

Colossians 3:14 - And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

12 - Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

When we were saved we became a part of the Body of Christ and were given the Holy Spirit to guide us, comfort us and give us the desire and the strength to be different—different from who we were and different from who non-Christians are. In many places in Scripture, we are told to be different; to cloth ourselves in various ways that protect us and help us shine in a world of darkness.

But He does not expect us to do this change alone. He gives us others , as brothers and sisters and members of the same body to reach out and achieve this change in ourselves and to help the others to also reach out in change.

Clothe yourselves with:

compassion—recognizing need and responding to it

kindness—keeping anger out of the situation

humility—taking blame wherever necessary

gentleness—speaking and acting with thoughtfulness

patience—repeating these things as often as necessary

13 - Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Most of our the simple hurts we experience in life are unintended: slights that may not have been meant as heard; injuries to our hearts or pride that may not even have been intended to hurt us, but were chosen as a hurt; some are actually intended, but may not be worth the time and effort to respond with being hurt. Checking these things off as inconsequential should be our chosen reaction. Getting angry and holding a grudge is not good for any body; yours or ours (the Body of Christ.)

This makes me think of the old adage about “If your head hurts, slam a hammer onto your finger and you will forget about your head hurting.” A pretty ridiculous thing to do, but probably true enough. Not giving others room to irritate us without creating a chasm in the body is the proper thing to do. Keeping the body healthy with forgiveness keeps the body working for Christ in the best way.

14 - And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. This summation of God's commandments for us is the key to being different; God is Love; we love because He first loved us.

He also told us that others would know us by our love for one another:

Colossians 1:7... From the very first day you heard and recognized the truth of what God is doing, you’ve been hungry for more. It’s as vigorous in you now as when you learned it from our friend and close associate Epaphras. He is one reliable worker for Christ! I could always depend on him. He’s the one who told us how thoroughly love had been worked into your lives by the Spirit.

I Corinthians13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

15 - Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.



Peace develops in our lives as we turn away from fear and grumbling and turn more and more to Praise and Thanksgiving:



16 - Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.



One of my favorite preoccupations is to watch the sky. A clear sky is nice, but one with at least a few clouds is even better; the sky becomes a drawing board for God with wonderful patterns and shapes scattered about. Last night was an excellent example as an array of “mountainous” billowy cumulus clouds appeared in the sky reflecting the last lights of the day on bright white surfaces which appeared to be mountains in the distance. There are no mountains north of me, but it is always fun to look up and see the mountain-like clouds shining in God's Glory.



Another special time for me is catching bird pictures and videos from a site online Bird) that allows me to be a “bird watcher” from my home. It is wonderful to see the variety and colorfulness of birds around the world. There is no end to the numbers and colors and mating rituals! God's creatures are extremely beautiful (with the exception of spiders) and something to be enjoyed—from a distance—and to Praise the Lord about mountains, lakes, rivers, oceans, forests, meadows and even farmlands which are all beautiful to behold and rich and colorful enough to send us praising the Lord, the Creator of it all, even in it's sin tarnished state.



17 - And 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.



And, thus we are instructed to pray IN Jesus Name... “In Jesus name, and for His sake, Amen.” The world seems to despise that phrase more than even the call to Allah for destruction of all who are not themselves. But that is God's fight. Ours is to tame ourselves with praises to Almighty God, through Bible truths and wonder. Ours is to love, even as God Almighty has loved us. His love endures forever; and it is never failing! Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him!

May we love one another enough to be noticed!