Reality CheckShembull

How we act toward one another is of utmost importance to God. Paul is reminding the church of this and he is once again giving specifics - getting to the nuts and bolts of healthy, God-fearing, redeemed relationships.  

It is important to remember that Paul is addressing a church, a group of people who spend time together, are united in their belief in God; people who are supposed to be working together to fulfill God’s mandate. This group of people needed a reminder, and how much more do we? In a time riddled with pride, arrogance, unkindness and impatience,  we desperately need a fresh reminder of how to treat one another. 

The values being espoused by Paul here, that of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, are attributes that are outworked in relationships with others. It is often said that you can’t test your levels of patience until your patience is tested - and more often than not one’s patience can be tested when negotiating relationships with others.

The way in which we relate to others, treat them and live in community can often be a measure upon which we can gauge how our relationship with Jesus is doing - are our relationships ruled by a measure of humility? Are we patient? Do we show compassion to others? If we’re lacking in any of these areas, if impatience riddles our responses to others, then all the more reason to turn to Jesus. We are God’s chosen people holy and dearly loved, in His presence we can grow in the relational values discussed here. 

Take some time to examine the state of your relationships with others in the church and how you treat others. Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight one or two of the above values that you can work on improving with Him.