Love One Another

In Colossians 3, Paul lists a series of behaviors that help to funk-proof our relationships. Let’s start with the one that Paul says binds them all together.

“All you need is love,” the Beatles crooned, “love is all you need.” The Bible agrees that love is relational funk’s kryptonite.

As you read through the list of “one anothers” in this passage, notice that before these things are “DO things”, they are “BE things”:

• compassion is sympathy accompanied by a real endeavor to bring relief. It’s compassion that moves you to take action.
• kindness - the word used here is specifically about being useful to others, more than doing nice things for others (which is a different word).
• humility is a right perspective of ourselves before God that impacts how we relate to others.
• gentleness - according to Aristotle this word is a condition of mind and heart which demonstrates gentleness. When your being is gentle, you do gentle things.
• patience is self-restraint, a steady response in the face of provocation.
• bear with each other - to have patience with the failings and weaknesses of one another.
• forgive one another as the Lord forgave you - this is not DO as much as BE. God does not just forgive you, He is forgiving towards you.

v.14: “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Love is the zipper that holds together all these other funk-defying choices. Any of these virtues alone are good, but until they are all held together by love, they are ineffective in producing healthy relationships. Love covers our failings.

Most importantly, love is more than a feeling. Paul doesn’t say to feel love, but to “put on” love. This is a gentle reminder that love is not feeling-based; it is will-based. Even when I don’t feel like loving, I will love because I am loved. Even when it hurts to love, I will love because I know how much it hurt Jesus to love me.

The most important part of de-funking your relationships is to choose to love as God has chosen to love you.

How are you loving in the midst of your relational funk?