Live our Lives in Love

 

Two years ago, life stood still for a while.  Many moved from working in an office to working at home.  Restaurants were closed.  Churches were closed.  We found ourselves stepping back in time.  The rat race of rushing here and rushing there was replaced by staying at home, holding tight to our families, and living a different lifestyle than we were used to.  We learned some lessons back then that I hope we continue to incorporate into our lives moving forward.  These lessons include the words shared in our verse today. 

What I am hoping is we live our lives in love:

•         Compassion – having concern for others.  Let us not turn back on those that may need us because we are too busy.  May we find opportunities to reach out to those that may need a phone call, a visit, or a friend.  Jesus never ceases showing us compassion, even when we do not deserve it.
•         Kindness – the quality of being friendly.  Go the extra distance to the stranger that you meet.  Buy the cup of coffee for the person behind you.  Speak a kind word to a stranger.  I love in the Bible where Jesus’ kindness oozes through the pages.  A touch of His hand to each stranger He meets changed their lives.  We can do the same.
•         Humility – humbleness.  This is one of my favorite words as we do not see this much anymore.  To bring our own importance down to build up another around us can be life changing.  We do not have to be the best or have the most.  We just need to be grateful for what we have!  Is there any greater example of humbleness than our Lord dying on the cross for our sins?
•         Gentleness – tender.  Our words are such powerful tools throughout our days.  To speak in a gentle manner, to our children, our spouses and our coworkers can do much for our relationships.  The words our Lord speaks to us could certainly be harsh, but he speaks gentle words of love.
•         Patience – tolerate delay or suffering without getting angry.  This certainly can be my greatest challenge.  Often, we want things done on our timeline and in our manner.  When we work on our patience, we incorporate the words listed above into strong actions – not taking our anger out on others.  If there is ever an example of patience, it is certainly Jesus.  I can only imagine the level of patience He must have with me.  I certainly should have that same level of patience with others.

Chapter three of the book of Colossians is a wonderful chapter to read.  Paul lovingly shares how we should live our lives, to the glory of God.  Living our lives with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience not only impacts those that are around us, but ourselves as well.  Our hearts will be filled.  Our souls will be filled. And our lips will share the good news of Christ with others.  Let's Live our Lives in Love!

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us chapters in the Bible that help us to understand how to live our lives.  Whether time slows down a bit or we are living a busy lifestyle, understanding how we can positively impact others through our words and actions and living our lives that way should be a priority.  Amen!