Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Conflict”
Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all, put on love – the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts.” Colossians 3:12-15 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Broken relationships are restored through Christ and His grace.”
Many years ago when I was a Pastor in California I knew a man by the name of Greg Sumii. Greg was a Christian counselor who was on staff with the California Southern Baptist Convention. He was an expert in conflict resolution and his ministry was to travel around the state helping to resolve conflicts in churches. He even wrote a book entitled, “The Christian’s Handbook on Conflict Resolution.”
The passage cited above – Colossians 3:12-15, is one of the New Testament passages Greg found very instructive and helpful in assisting Christians to resolve conflicts. Conflicts almost always arise out of impatience with one another, or out of a sense of having been wronged, and are often fueled by anger and negative emotions.
So Greg begins by reminding us that as the people of God, we are God’s chosen ones. We share a common bond in the family of God. Second we are holy, in that we have been called to Him and set aside for Him. And also, that we are deeply loved by Him. We have all of that in common. And so, first and foremost, our attitude towards each other must be cloaked in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. You probably noticed that in that list there is no mention of, and no room for, anger, meanness, pettiness, selfishness, or a victim mentality.
Paul reminds us that the Lord has forgiven us for our transgressions and shortcomings, therefore we too need to be patient and forgiving of the shortcomings we think we might be seeing in others and which might be the focus of the current conflict. He reminds us that love for one another has got to be the motivating force that undergirds our relations with one another and if that is the case, it will lead to unity. Finally in this verse, Paul tells us that it needs to be the peace of Jesus that controls our hearts, and our mouths.
Things may not always be to our personal liking; we may not always get what we want; and other people may be less than perfect in our eyes – and it is ok to say so. However, how we go about addressing those issues matters very, very much. Bitterness, criticism, anger, is never the way of the Lord. Peace and patience, kindness and compassion, love and unity, is.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 