Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

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Read

Colossians 3:12-17 (NRSV)

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with 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 the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 

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Reflect

What if we all put on the kind of clothes the writer describes? Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience would cover us from head to toe with love sewing it all together. The writer challenges us to “bear with one another” and “forgive each other.” We struggle with doing either of these. It is hard to live together in harmony as a family of God. We become annoyed, irritated, hurt and offended by the words and actions of others.

If, however, we all remembered to put on these clothes every day, imagine the difference! We would not only find it easier to “bear with” and forgive others, but far less necessary. Wearing these clothes would shift the focus from how others are treating me, to how I am treating them. If each of us would wear these clothes, the irritations and hurts that threaten to tear us apart would only touch the surface and then fall harmlessly to the ground.

 

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Pray

Dear Lord,
Fill us with your compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience so that we can live together as one body in perfect harmony with you and with each other. As you love us, help us to love each other.

Go with God!