Colossians 3:12-14 (Please read these verses first)
How often do I feel I have received the short end of the stick? I may lash out, or want to do so, because I have been unfairly treated. I feel, or think that I know, that I didn’t deserve whatever it is that was done to me.
Then, I read this word from God.
1. I am holy and loved by God, I am one of God’s “chosen” people. No matter what was done to me by another, God is with me. God calls me his own. I am loved by the Lord.
2. As one of God’s chosen I am to look the part. It’s more than a veneer, I am to give myself to a new way of thinking and being. Clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. It is not the clothing that makes the new person, it is the new person whose inner transformation displays the new clothing.
3. This new look brings me to a place that transforms relationships. Bear with each other and forgive one another…Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Veneer is a false covering and has no depth of goodness. Veneer is a false front. To show that my “clothing” is more than a covering, and to show depth of character, I am to move away from my comfort zone and into the lives of those that need the same grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
4. All of these are bound together by love. This love brings unity. It shows that the depth of character that is part of God’s transforming power at work in me.
As we experience this third Sunday in Advent, how can we bring Joy to our Father in heaven? How can we bring Joy to those around us?
The depth of our relationship with God is not just about wearing our Sunday best; it is about our character on display so that those around us experience the love of God through us. We become much more than a shiny Christmas display. We become the vehicle by which the love of God in Christ Jesus is delivered.
Lord, let my life be more than an attractive decoration. Build in me a depth of character that will transform the way that I interact with those around me, especially those that are not like me and/or those who have offended me. Empower me to be a light shining in the darkness, a witness of your love moving from the Stable, to the Cross, to the empty Tomb. Empower me to be a witness that prepares the way for your Second Advent. Amen.