love is not against the law

Colossians 3:12-15
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.

The words of Paul always have a way of catching your attention and bringing one to humility. Epistle after epistle he says amazing things. I used to really cling to the book of Romans as one of my favorites and the hardest understand. However, I came across this passage (Col. 3:12-15) and I cannot tell you how hard this is for me. I have heard lecture after lecture on behavior modification and character education. I even know “theologically” the principle of love, but as I found myself meditating on my actions and thoughts, I have begun to see how much I am lacking love.
Everybody thinks they are loving. We tell our children how important it is. We even talk among ourselves about how so-in-so needs to be more loving. But do we really love?? This is a question I am wrestling with. Why is it so hard for the Christians to love one another? I have been in church all my life and I know this is a struggle for many. It seems as soon as we don’t get things done our way, then we are harboring anger and hate in our hearts. Our sweet façade fades as soon as someone pushes one of our buttons or changes something that we are grasping onto.
As I look back on my Christian walk, I can think of times that I was hateful to others because I didn’t agree with something. WOW! What a humbling reflection. My pride was more important to me than the love of my brothers. It is often so easy to lose the battle to my flesh. I felt like I was justified for my feelings, the heart is so deceitful! LOVE is what binds us together in unity. If I can’t love others Christians, I won’t be in unity with them. This is a huge truth that I have been processing and learning over the last few years. I need to pray more “Lord, teach me to love others more than myself.”
As I learn to depend more on Christ and grow, I hope that the peace of Christ will rule in my heart and I will clothe myself in love. God calls us to this. I hope the next time that our feelings are hurt or the pastor does things differently than we would have that we would remember that love binds us together. This is a challenge for all sinners. If you are reading this and think that you have no problem loving others, why don’t you ask someone around you what they think? We often forget how depraved we are and sometimes its good to have a reminder! :)

and it’s giving up your life
for the ones you hate the most
it’s giving them your gown
when they’ve taken your clothes
-Derek Webb