12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Was reading this passage to meditate on this, and I just find it ... renewing. :) It feels a lot like a mirror, because when I read this, it causes me to reflect on my own life and deeds and attitudes.
"And always be thankful." I was wondering why did Paul put in this sentence - at first glance, it looks like something added on as an afterthought. But, think I understand better now why he said that. In the context of this passage, Paul was talking about the relational unity of those who are truly His, in order to counter the Gnostics' false teaching that the physical world, including human relationships, does not matter. We could be very "spiritual" to the point of asceticism, but if we do not love our brothers and sisters, whom we can see, then how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
Hence, if we have a grumbling spirit - one that is easily discontented and does not give thanks - such a murmuring spirit will eventually poison every aspect of our lives, including our relationships with our brothers and sisters. We become increasingly discontented in our relationships, having unrealistic expectations, not showing grace, and constantly finding fault with others over the smallest things.
That reminded me, because while on the bus back last night, I was being moody again, despite many wonderful blessings (e.g. a great dinner with Yufen and Zhiwei, and oh yes, a pay raise - it was such an unexpected blessing!) yesterday, I still was rumininating on some worries about work, instead of thanking God for His many blessings. One of the stupid things I was doing was trying to compare my pay rise with my other colleagues...(go figure... I've already got a pay rise within one month of joining and I'm STILL complaining? I really deserve to be whacked upside-down...)
Then, after praying to God, I realized that I tend to be very easily discontented and start comparing. Think God was asking me, "Why are you comparing your blessings with others?" And I was reminded of the Israelites' constant grumbling in the desert - and how God was very angry with them for their ungrateful hearts. As Paul later told the Jews in Acts 13:18, "He endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert..."
Hmm. Realised I haven't repented yet of this sin. Oh no. It's now or never!
(pause)
So think that's why Paul added in that part about being thankful. Thankful for what? Thankful for everything good, no matter how big or small. Think if we are thankful for little things today, we are enabled to be thankful for greater things tomorrow. Just as discontentment can take root in a believer's life and ruin his/her soul, so can a grateful and thankful spirit, with God's help, take root and flourish a rich and joyful heart.
And isn't a joyful heart great for building bonds of love, peace and unity in the Spirit?
"And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful."
For when I'm thankful, I enable the peace that comes from Christ to rule inwardly, and I enable myself to live in peace with others outwardly.
To put it more personally, I think, even right now, today, a lot of us still do not experience much peace in our hearts. Haven't we all felt, at one time or another, fear at times when we meet up in our caregroups or church services? Longing just to relate to one another in Christ's peace - the peace that transcends personality, ethnic, cultural and language differences? Yet the fear that we'll get rejected because we sinned against someone, even though we sincerely are sorry, or because we feel different from the rest of the brothers and sisters? Or because of this and that... We might even begin to feel that they wouldn't care if we died. :P
This kind of experience is very real for many Christians. But thank God, we aren't alone, because even back in the first century, the apostle Paul was writing to the church regarding this issue.
Actually, I know someone who has a heart of complaining and is often very moody... as a result, this person is not close to God and to other people too. So after looking at this person's life, I also realise that my tendency to be moody and complaining in my heart does affect my own walk with God and people.
God doesn't want me to drag myself along life's lonely road, murmuring and complaining... unless what He said about "Ye shall go out with joy and be led forth in peace! and the mountains shall burst into song before thee..." was a big fat lie. But He does not lie. If Christians in death camps can sing joyfully to God, then hee, a thankful heart is a very powerful witness for our dear Lord Jesus! :D
Wow! Think that is something I learnt from this verse. So must pray for myself and my CG and unit and sub-d... that we'll grow in an increasingly thankful heart to God... really looking forward to a transformed ministry where everyone is growing ever and ever thankful to our great Saviour! :D Hallelujah!
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