Colossians 3:14
“Above all put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
Life is hard. We have conflicts with people….many times it’s people that we love. When I look at the big picture of how my life has changed from the beginning of this year, I see that it’s filled with way more good than bad. Knowing every single person on this planet is flawed, I put some big red flags aside to gain other things I felt we needed in our lives. Once again, we all sin differently and no one is perfect…and we have to learn to love people through their sin. Colossians says, “Above all put on love…”
We have to love people where they are at and encourage them on their journey with God. This is hard when we get frustrated with them and want to see change immediately. There are so many things I get mad at myself about and want to change, but permanent change happens slowly and deliberately. We have to be deliberate about it.
The one thing I’ve learned over the last several years is that you can’t make someone care about something you care about. They either do or don’t and if they don’t, you won’t ever see change out of them. They have to want the same things you want…have the same goals you have, etc. And let’s be frank, not everyone has the exact same goals in life.
The more I live this life, the more I see that my goals are temporary and the things I want in this life require a sacrifice of other things…If I want more money, I sacrifice time, if I want more peace, I have to let things go, if I want more order, I have to put the work into it to get it in order.
Everything has a price.
Do I strive to fulfill worldly desires in this temporary life, or create a legacy I leave behind for my kids. I already know…I’ve handled things badly through my divorce. I didn’t always turn to God for help. I didn’t always show my kids the right way to handle situations with people.
How do I fix that now? Especially when they’ve learned so much bad from me?
I can’t go backwards, I have to simply keep moving forward and make changes as I go, keeping God at the center of it all.