11 07 07 One Another’s (Part VII)
By His Strength, In His Name, With Thanksgiving

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others. And to all these virtues add love, which is the perfect bond. Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:12-17)

Anyone who thinks the Christian life is easy and comfortable must have met Christ on a barren island and then taken up to heaven immediately. Relationships are the key to the Christian life and our relationship to Christ is the most vital of all. However, it’s these very relationships with others that challenge us! We can only honor the Lord in relationships living BY HIS STRENGTH, IN HIS NAME, AND WITH THANKSGIVING!

Some of our greatest issues come in relationships. Other people can pose such challenges to our desires to be like Jesus! It sounds so easy to be kindhearted and forgiving until faced with a real person who brings real problems into our lives. Those with whom we have to deal daily, our family members and co-workers, are often the most difficult relationships because of our constant interaction. We wish for relief from them, but the reality is that God uses difficult people to teach us to be like Jesus.1

Not only are we called not to hurt anyone, but we are also commanded to do what good we can do for all we meet. We are the elect of God and we must live in such a way that reflects His goodness, grace, humility, and forgiveness. It is our duty to forgive, even initiating the forgiveness when we feel as though we have been wronged. After all, was it not Jesus who died for us while we were yet sinners……enemies of God……those hurting Him? BY HIS STRENGTH we can do the things we are too weak to do in the flesh, according to His will. IN HIS NAME we can break down walls of ignorance and prejudice, and WITH THANKSGIVING we realize all Christ has done for us, so we in turn do it for one another!

1Daigle, Kay, A Walk in the Clouds: A Study of Colossians for Wise Women, Northwest Bible Church 2006, Copyright 2007. bible.org