Colossians 3:12-14 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.
Sometimes a Bible verse strikes you in a new way. That was the case recently when I read the above passage from Colossians. I had always thought of this as directing our behavior within the church and extending into society. But suddenly, I saw it as commanding behavior within our homes.
I have long been amazed how we treat the people closest to us. Just as we may clothe ourselves in one way at home and another way when moving outside of it, so we may act one way at home and another way outside.
We may put on a warm personality (or facade) for people on the outside, but when we return to our own homes, we criticize our loved ones, speak to them with a tone we don't use externally, and exhibit hostile behaviors in our family such as bullying, passive-aggressive actions, and more. Shouldn't we treat our loved ones with more honor and care?
In fact, our homes are great places to practice compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. We can try out these qualities with loved ones before applying them to friends or strangers.
Paul says the result of such godly actions is unity. We wonder why unity has evaporated in society. Could it be that it isn't even practiced in our homes? Let's start fostering unity in our family relationships through these beautiful Spirit-inspired qualities.
United parents and united families are two goals for readers of my new book, "Unison Parenting." I show the methods of how parents can get on the same page, stay on it, and return to it when things go haywire. When the parents are in unison, they can extend the united nature to their entire family. Learn more at CecilTaylorMinistries.com/unison-parenting.
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