Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Col. 3:12-14
Dear Lord Jesus, it happened again this year. The week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve always seems to put a spotlight on the core issue of our lives—our relationships…everything we love about them, and everything difficult about them. And that’s just as it should be.
You came into our broken world to make all things new; and you came for broken people, to make us as beautiful as yourself. All of which to say, you’ve got a lot to work with, Jesus!
Our hope is great, for the outcome of your work is certain; but our hearts are vulnerable, for the process of renewal is necessarily messy. Like a melody we can’t get out of our minds, replay this truth over and over in our hearts: You give grace to the humble, but you resist the proud… you give grace to the humble, but you resist the proud…
We praise you for the outpouring of grace that brought us into rich relationship with yourself. Because of you, Jesus, we’ve been chosen, declared to be holy, and now we are dearly loved children of God.
The most enjoyable parts of our relationships give us a tiny symbol of what we fully have in you; and the most difficult parts of our relationships remind us of what we will never have apart from you.
We also praise you for the “full closet” you’ve given us in the gospel—the garments of grace with which we are to clothe ourselves every day for each of our relationships—the easy ones and the ones that are flat out hard.
You promise us all the compassion and kindness, humility and gentleness, patience and forbearance, forgiveness and love we’ll need. Forgive us when we don’t trust you, or don’t like what you’ve picked out for us to wear; or when we simply prefer our old sweatshirt of resentment, the dark glasses of anger, the underwear of self-pity and the running shoes of fear and pride.
Jesus, we’ve never more looked forward to the Day when we will be as beautiful and as loving as you (1 Jn. 3:1-3). Until that Day, keep blasting our hearts with the good news and power of the gospel. So very Amen we pray, in your joyful and triumphant name.
