Paul’s final call of the church in Colossians 3:1-15 is witnessed in Colossians 3:14-15 which reads, “And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Both love and thankfulness, but especially love, are some of Christ’s most prominent characteristics. 1 John 4:19 states, “We love because he first loved us.” (ESV 1 John 4:19) Again, we are taught to love because Jesus loves us. In loving one another we are being Christ like, because Christ himself loves us unconditionally. In 1 Corinthians 16:14, again Paul is speaking here, and states, “Let all that you do be done in love,” because Paul knows
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We should be striving to live in Christ’s image. We should love the world like He loves us. Hence the word “should” in all of that. Although we “should” be doing all of those things, it doesn’t meant that we are. What we are however, is exactly how Paul describes us as in Colossians 3:5. We are “earthly” and therefore have our earthly sins, “Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (ESV Colossians 3:5) We still feel exactly what Paul writes in Colossians 3:8, “Anger, wrath, malice, slander.” (ESV Colossians 3:5) As Christian people, who intend to follow Christ, we sometimes do not really follow Christ. It is easy to say love your neighbor, meaning everyone. On the other hand, it is very hard to follow through with that. You really learn how much the Lord loves you when you try to love the person you really dislike. It is hard, and the Lord makes it look easy. Now as Christian people however, it should be easy for us too. But, after all, we are human and more likely than not, we will make a mistake and sin. When we are struggling with our sin, this is the passage we should come to. We need to remember that we are children of God and that we need to act like one; that what matters here on earth, will not matter there in heaven, our true home. Sometimes we get too wrapped up in what is happening down here, when in reality we should be worried about what He is doing. We need to keep our eyes on him. Ways that we can live in Christ and be the Christians that we are meant to be would simply loving our fellow Christians. Even loving our fellow non-Christians. We can be just as kind and generous and forgiving to them, as the Lord is to us. In order to live like Christ, we must first live in
We should be striving to live in Christ’s image. We should love the world like He loves us. Hence the word “should” in all of that. Although we “should” be doing all of those things, it doesn’t meant that we are. What we are however, is exactly how Paul describes us as in Colossians 3:5. We are “earthly” and therefore have our earthly sins, “Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (ESV Colossians 3:5) We still feel exactly what Paul writes in Colossians 3:8, “Anger, wrath, malice, slander.” (ESV Colossians 3:5) As Christian people, who intend to follow Christ, we sometimes do not really follow Christ. It is easy to say love your neighbor, meaning everyone. On the other hand, it is very hard to follow through with that. You really learn how much the Lord loves you when you try to love the person you really dislike. It is hard, and the Lord makes it look easy. Now as Christian people however, it should be easy for us too. But, after all, we are human and more likely than not, we will make a mistake and sin. When we are struggling with our sin, this is the passage we should come to. We need to remember that we are children of God and that we need to act like one; that what matters here on earth, will not matter there in heaven, our true home. Sometimes we get too wrapped up in what is happening down here, when in reality we should be worried about what He is doing. We need to keep our eyes on him. Ways that we can live in Christ and be the Christians that we are meant to be would simply loving our fellow Christians. Even loving our fellow non-Christians. We can be just as kind and generous and forgiving to them, as the Lord is to us. In order to live like Christ, we must first live in