24 April
The Bond of Perfectness
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering: Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness.
Colossians 3:12 to 141 Corinthians 13 says, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."
"Charity" comes from the Greek word, "agape," and refers to the love that comes from God. The agape love is a love that is willing to give its best for the worst. The agape love that Paul writes about here is described as the "bond of perfectness."
Perfectness talks about completion in every area of your life. When you reach perfection there is nothing better than that. And Paul says that the only way you can be made perfect is by having this agape love dwelling inside you.
Do you have this agape love abiding in you? Examine your life at this moment. Ask yourself these basic questions. One, are you holding onto unforgiveness or bitterness or even anger? Two, do you find it easy to pray for just about anybody, including those who have caused much harm in your life, even those who wanted to kill you? Finally, "When I speak, do I move mountains or do I sound like a tinkling cymbal? Do I cause more harm or do I bring peace? Do I act in Gods love or do I respond according to how I feel?"
I leave you with a short example of Gods love ... "For God so loved the sinful, unpleasant, spiritually-decayed, disrespectful, undeserving world of humankind, that He gave us His very best, His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but shall enjoy everlasting life."
I pray that Gods bond of perfectness performs a new work in your life today.