Series: Jesus Manifesto
Message: Getting Dressed for Abundant Living
Preacher: J. Murdock
Reflection: Japhet De Oliveira
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Beyond: J. Murdock
Live Purpose: Lydia Svoboda
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Colossians 3:5-17 in the New International Version (NIV). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: Yesterday, I suggested that Paul was asking us to love everyone, which I admit is easier said than done. To be in that space you need to be in Jesus. When you love, you soon realize that everyone needs grace. That grace is filled with bountiful amounts of forgiveness. This is what Paul asks us to act on all the time. He writes:
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Verse 13)
That little tail end reference sounds exactly like a reference to the famous prayer Jesus shared with the disciples. This is the same prayer we repeat in churches or at gatherings and meetings. It helps remind us of what it is to be a follower of Jesus. There is only one thing we have to do. Of all the phrases, of all the words, the only thing we need to do is forgive.
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:12, ESV)
Could it be that when we fail to forgive, we fail to accept forgiveness from God? Could it be that the parable told of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35, serves as a reminder that forgiveness is given to us so that we can also forgive others? Forgiveness is a healing commodity in all healthy communities, healthy marriages, and healthy friendships.
When we accept the free gift of forgiveness from Jesus there is instant reconciliation and trust. When we forgive others there is often a complex journey before forgiveness is completely achieved. Henry Cloud breaks the process down like this:
1. Forgiveness has to do with the past. Forgiveness is not holding something someone has done against her. It is letting it go. It only takes one to offer forgiveness. And just as God has offered forgiveness to everyone, we are expected to do the same (see Matthew 6:12 and 18:35).
2. Reconciliation has to do with the present. It occurs when the other person apologizes and accepts forgiveness. It takes two to reconcile.
3. Trust has to do with the future. It deals with both what you will risk happening again and what you will open yourself up to. A person must show through his actions that he is trustworthy before you trust him again (see Matthew 3:8; Proverbs 4:23).
Recalibrate: Who do you need to forgive, reconcile with, and rebuild trust with today?
Respond: Share a prayer of thanks for how Jesus forgives you.
Research: Read the full story of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35.
Remember: “Do not lie to each other. You have left your old sinful life and the things you did before” (Colossians 3:9, ICB).
Japhet De Oliveira is administrative director for the Center for Mission and Culture at Adventist Health in Roseville, California.
Getting a child dressed can be a difficult task. It can so often turn into a game of chase as you try to wrangle a wrigley toddler into their clothing. I can remember being in a rush to go somewhere and losing it with my child, holding them down as I pulled on their clothing. Their response to being forced was soul crushing for me then and even now as I sit here thirty years on. I was not gentle. Gentleness is from the design house of love. Saying “sorry” is a big thing. Living it means changing how we do things. Choose to see that how you do things is just as important as why you do them. Wear gentleness today. Trust me, your children will inherit a beautiful way of living with each other.
Play a game of Oops, My Mistake today. It is so easy to think that we are always right even when we do something wrong. Like when you bump into someone in your class. You can say you are sorry or blame them for getting in your way. For today choose to say “Oops, my mistake. I’m sorry—are you OK?” Wait to see that they really are OK. This may not seem like a fun game for you, especially if you like to be right all the time. Trust me—this is a game that is good to play. Get good at it. Whenever you feel like you are ready to blame or push someone for getting in your way, stop and say, “Oops, my mistake. I’m sorry—are you OK?”Love takes care not to hurt anyone on the inside or the outside. We call that being gentle. Jesus is gentle with us and He asks us to be gentle with each other. How can you be gentle today?
Is your school anything like mine when I was growing up in that there are different tribes of people who sit together at lunch? When I was in middle school, there were the popular kids, the athletes, the nerds, the emo punks, and the soccer team. I didn’t fit into any of those groups, so I sat with a bunch of other kids who didn’t fit into one particular group either. My table had a soccer star, a basketball player, a few nerds, a few kids from the drama club, and me. During lunch it was understood that everyone stayed with their own group and no one really jumped from table to table. If you stayed in your lane, you didn’t have to worry about anyone messing with you. And in these tribes, there was a belief that there was safety in numbers. Though there were no rules requiring everyone to stay in line, it was just sort of understood that this is the way things were and no one needed to shake things up.
Paul mentions a different set of tribes in Colossians 3:11. He says that when we are renewed in Christ, suddenly there are no longer different tribes, but instead we are all the same in Christ! Because we have filled ourselves up with God, there is nothing about us that is different enough to divide us into different groups. It’s as if Paul were taking all the tables in the quad and shoving them together into one giant table. Friend groups are destroyed to make room for a bigger circle! Now no one needs to feel left out, because we are all a part of something massively friendly and familiar.
What group do you see yourself fitting into at school now? What would happen if someone in your friend circle jumped to a different table? How would your group react? What would happen if you tried to bring two groups of friends together? What might happen if you tried to make friends with people different than you rather than just staying with the group you usually hang with? What would it take for you to attempt to do what Paul is doing here in Colossians?
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:15). When Jesus has hold of your heart—when your eyes are fixed on Him—most assuredly you will have peace. Peace is not a natural outcome of turmoil by any means of logic or reasoning. Chaos, destruction, and overwhelm are the products of turmoil. And yet, when Jesus is present, no matter the circumstance, peace surpasses all understanding. Sometimes, His perfect peace is an even greater miracle than your turmoil ending.
Zan Long is GRC director for faith development for ages 0-17. She lives in Sydney, Australia, and serves at her local church in nearby Kellyville.
J. Murdock is associate pastor at Boulder Adventist Church in Boulder, Colorado, where he focuses on youth and young adult ministry.
Lydia Svoboda is a junior theology major at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska.