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.
“Make allowances for each other’s faults” Scripture again gives us a mandate to pass over the weakness of others. Make room for the hurt others may cause. What an incredibly Christ – like pattern of life this is. Perhaps our modern equivalent of this would be to give others the “benefit of the doubt”. To see past offenses to the heart and perspective of the one doing so. Bad days, broken homes, and bruised souls all manifest in the actions of others. When we move, we must do so without bias; nixing any flawed perspective or arrogant philosophy so we may truly treat others as Christ did. When we are acted against, we must give the same grace our Lord unleashed upon us, to the offender. The world is a war and we are both captor and captive.
“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony” Love always calls for an unnatural unity. Devoid of ego and pride, it assumes imperfection and calls us to keep the ship afloat. Church is messy. Spend any amount of time inside its walls, and you are bound to see this. Humans crash into each other with both abandon and grace. It is a beautiful picture of the need for the Christ who redeems it all, and therefore should always call us back to God. The health of a church is directly correlated to how they interpret this passage. When love is the motivation, the gates of hell quiver.
Love equates to heavy lifting. It is easy to take shots and effortless to offend. Defensiveness and cheap shots are the low hanging fruit of life. It takes courage to unflinchingly look into the chaos of life and choose love. This is countercultural and some may even say revolutionary. A love charged life gets no celebration or accolade but a quiet whisper of grace from a God who knelt to wash the feet of sinners.
Blessed are the peacemakers
Matt simon blog 