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.

Colossians 3:12-17

Dear God, I was in the Christian Men’s Life Skills class at the opening last night when the guy that does the ice breaker asked the question, “Would you rather be feared by everyone or loved by everyone?” No, I’ll say that it’s not a good dichotomy. One, I think you can be both feared and loved. Some guys wanted to say respected by everyone. Then there’s being liked. Hated. Some might find us annoying or charming. But given the question, just about everyone said loved. I said loved. Then when it was said and done, he said, “You guys say you want to be loved and not feared, but how many of your children or wives at home would say they fear you?” That was a sobering question. Then one of the leaders pointed out that there is no relationship in fear. There’s only relationship in love. I thought that was really good too. It was a great discussion.

I bring all of this up because I think it aligns with this passage really well. Clothing myself in tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience is important. The Bible study teacher last night was talking about humility. I have to say, I was wondering how really important it is that I be respected, and what do I mean by respect? Do I mean the kind where people respect my integrity or do I mean the kind where it’s really another word for feared. I’ll take the integrity one. I don’t want to be feared.

I also like the part of this passage that talks about remembering how much you have forgiven me so that I can forgive others. When I have difficulty forgiving others, it’s usually because I’ve forgotten just how much you’ve forgiven me and how grateful I am for you.

Father, I want to let the message about Jesus and everything he was and is fill my life, and then I want to communicate this to others. When they respect me, I want it to be a respect that appreciates authenticity, consistency, integrity, and love for others. I’m going to be interviewing someone for a position today. Selfishly, I really want this to work out. But I don’t want to be foolish and do this in my own wisdom and without you. Help me to understand who this person is and whether or not this will be a good fit for us and for them. Bless and encourage my wife. Help her to feel loved by me and I hope she never fears me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen