Building One Another Up in Love

Cheli began this week in our month-long series on Missional Living by writing about how the Church gathers to worship, serve, and then go out and impact the world with love. Today we look at how life in the Church also builds us up in love as we grow towards spiritual maturity.

Almost fifteen years ago, my husband and I composed our wedding vows half an hour before the wedding on a napkin passed between the bride’s room and the groom’s. When our pastor asked for the vows we intended to exchange following the traditional vows, we realized that we’d never written them down!

Thankfully, we had talked about the Scriptural foundation for our marriage, and we knew what we intended to put into those vows. So, I paraphrased Colossians 3:12-17 into a series of (admittedly ambitious, grace-dependent) promises on a napkin, and the wedding was on!

This is God’s model for the Body of Christ:

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. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let 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. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
(Colossians 3:12-17)

What a beautiful, descriptive image of Church life! Paul wrote that Believers are to grow together in spiritual maturity into the likeness of Christ, making the Church body “grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). This passage in the third chapter of Colossians fleshes out some of the ways in which we build one another up in love.

Building with Patience

Today, some concerning policies at my children’s Christian school were brought to my attention. As I process it all, I am struck by the words that begin this passage, “Put on then….” There is an entire wardrobe of godly attitudes available to me, and they must replace the critical heart that bristled initially.

Have you ever tried talking a toddler into putting on a coat on a cold day, when it didn’t appeal to her? Good luck! Similarly, in Christ the garments of humility, patience, compassion, and meekness are available to me but require that I choose to put them on. As I process the school situation, I am commanded to prepare my soul appropriately before I speak.

 “Put on then, … 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.”
(Colossians 3:12-13)

With compassion, humility, and forbearance, we build up the Body of Christ.

Building in Harmony

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
(Colossians 3:14)

Love is key to harmony. A speaker at my church recently pointed out that our very diverse congregation spans a wide demographic range, including members who identify with both political parties; we even have members who have run for political office in both parties. What a set-up for division in a politically-charged, divisive season.

Our church, however, is committed to unity and love. Love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony, and hearts ruled by the peace of Christ hold us together as one body.

With love and the peace of Christ, we build up the Body of Christ.

Building with Wisdom

Colossians 3:16 tells us that we are to teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and it begins by identifying the source of that wisdom: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly….” 

The word translated “richly,” plousiōs, is also translated as “abundantly.” When the Word dwells within us, our lives abound in its fruit, including the wisdom to teach and admonish our Church family, spurring one another towards godliness. We must be cautious not to teach or lead primarily from human reason or worldly wisdom but to let everything flow from the wisdom of the Word of Christ.

With wisdom, we build up the Body of Christ.

Reflect

As I think through the ways that the Church was designed to grow corporately in spiritual maturity, these questions come to mind.

“In which relationships or circumstances do I need to put on humility and patience?”
“How does love contribute to harmony in my Church and in my home?”
“Am I letting the Word of Christ dwell in me richly and carrying that wisdom into my conversations?”