Set Our Minds on Things Above

Colossians 3:12-15 – 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.It can be hard to stay centered in and focused on love, when the chatter all around us seems to be just the opposite. The world is noisy and loud, filled with sounds of turmoil, negativity, and hate. Wars and rumors of wars abound. But we must stop right there!We must refocus. Colossians 3:2 tells us to “set our minds on things above…” I believe that means not only on God above, but on thoughts that are “above” the negativity and turmoil we generally hear. To “set our minds on things above,” we will need space to stand apart from the fray. Quiet space to pray and listen to God. That quiet time and space with God will allow Him to teach us how to LOVE as He does. To LOVE even the ones we don’t like very much and time to put on those virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, mentioned in today’s Bible verse.We may be overwhelmed by the noise of constant news, opinions, and experts, but we must be examples of a different way of operating in such a busy, noisy world. We must learn to follow the way our scripture directs us, instead of jumping into the ugly, negative fray of hate speech, anger, and violence. We must turn away from the world and turn toward God. God is LOVE.Jesus modeled the Way for us. He turned the other cheek. He forgave those torturing him. He prayed, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” But we must know what we do. It is going to take time – quiet time – focus – refocus on LOVE – change – change of heart, so as not to give anger for anger, hate for hate. Time to give LOVE to the people we don’t like. God will help us to clothe ourselves with the accessories we need – Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, Forgiveness, and Patience.But we will need prayer, self-control, and personal willpower – fueled by God’s LOVE.And most of all, we will need a constant attitude of LOVE – fueled by God’s LOVE.“Father forgive them, they know not what they do”, this must be our constant prayer, as we walk through our day. Help us develop a habit of this prayer! Help us to make it our constant mantra in our overloaded world! Father forgive them… I’m sure we will feel much better walking around wrapped in LOVE, instead of fear, anger and hate. LOVE feels GOOD! Let’s walk in LOVE today, help us Lord, and in all our tomorrows! Help us LORD! In Jesus’ name we pray. AMEN!This devotional was written and read by Bernice Howard.Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life. If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected]. First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.