Gardendale Nazarene

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Renovation of Our Hearts | Pastor's Blog | Gardendale Nazarene

Renovation of Our Hearts

Last Sunday morning, I gave you two points as we began our new series and looked at the renovation of our hearts.
  • Recognize in ourselves the idea systems of evil that govern our present age. Replace in ourselves the evil systems with the Kingdom and culture that Christ embodied (Philippians 2:1-11).
  • Recognize that all the essential parts of life are organized around God, as they are restored and sustained by Him (Colossians 1:9-14).

As I mentioned on Sunday, I struggled to narrow down which Scripture reference to include with each of these points. One of the passages I looked at was Colossians 3:1-17.

This week, I keep coming back to this passage, specifically Paul's statement in verses 12-14:

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

At first glance, this seems like a list of standard Pauline traits. Notice what Paul says to us- "as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved."

We are God's chosen ones. God's holiness is present in us. We are loved and this love is the basis for our love for others. We cannot be God's chosen ones and not love. There is no way around this. God is love and if we are His, we love too.

What does this love look like?

We are to have compassionate hearts. Lives marked by kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. We bear with one another and forgive one another (just as we have been forgiven).

Wrapping this section up, Paul alludes to the prevailing Greek thought. The ancient philosophers believed there was one great unifier that 'binds everything together in perfect harmony.' This unifier gives balance and proportion to the soul. Paul speaks here directly to the thought of his day, "...put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony..."

Sunday, we will look at the Renovation of the Church. It is my prayer that we come prepared for worship and that 'the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God' (vs. 16). Amen.

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