EXPAND TO READ: COLOSSIANS 3 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 19): This is a rough one for me. I feel as though this verse is speaking directly to me and is convicting my heart. You tell us husbands that we are to love our wives and to not be bitter towards them. For many years since coming to faith, I have felt bitterness towards my wife in many ways, but You tell me not to do this. For many years since coming to faith, I have failed to love my wife in the way You want me to and she needs me to. Please forgive me for these transgressions, Father. Forgive me for often harboring bitterness towards the hurt I’ve felt towards my wife or towards the things she is or is not doing that I disagree with in the moment. Forgive me for often failing to love my wife in the way that You want me to and also in the way she needs me to. Help me to be a better husband in this life, Father, so that through me my wife can be glorified in Your presence. Help me to be a better husband in this life, Father, so that through me she can feel Your presence each and every day that I am around her. Work in and through me, Father, to give my wife the husband that she deserves and that You want for her. All glory and praise to You for any and all changes that I’ve already made and will continue to make in my spiritual journey.
PROMISE (verse 13b): In the latter half of this verse is the ultimate promise fulfilled. You promise us forgiveness of all of our sins through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You tell us that just as we have been forgiven of all of our sins through Jesus, that we are to also forgive others of their sins. I have not been great at both accepting this promise in my heart for my own sins, but also I have failed at relaying this promise to others in my life. Help me to be better and more accepting of this promise in my life, Father. Help me to truly feel the forgiveness of my mistakes that only You can provide. Help me to also be better at relaying this amazing promise to others by showing them the forgiveness You have shown me.
ATTITUDE (verses 14-15): The attitudes of love and peace is something that I have struggled with for quite some time. You tell us to put on love as it is the perfect bond of unity. You tell us to allow the peace of the Messiah to control our hearts. You tell us to always be thankful. I have struggled in my life, since coming to faith, with all three of these attitudes—love, peace, and thankfulness. I often give into the world’s way of complaining, dislike, opposition, rebellion, and even hatred at times. This is not the way You want nor expect me to live out my life since coming to faith. You expect me to walk in an attitude of love, of peace, and of thankfulness. I am a slow learner when it comes to big life changes, Father, but I am still learning. Please continue to teach me where I am not walking in these attitudes, Father, and help me to change those ways. Help me to no longer live in the fleshly and worldly ways, so that I may become closer to what You expect of me in this life. I do have a big heart, but throughout all of the pain and hardships I’ve experienced, I’ve allowed my heart to harden. I know that You are working on softening my heart, so I am very grateful for the works You are doing in me to get me to where I need to be and know that I can be.
COMMAND (verse 17, 19, 21): Three kind of different commands in these three verses, but I feel all three of them are speaking loudly to me this morning. The first You tell us that whatever we do, whether in words or works, to do so in the name of the Lord Jesus and to always give thanks to God the Father through Him. I do still struggle with worldly and fleshly words and works in my life, but I know I am slowly getting better. Please continue Your works in me on this topic, Father. The next two verses kind of go together as I am both of these. The first is concerning being a good husband, loving my wife, and not being bitter towards her. As I mentioned in my sin confession, this one cuts me deep as I have failed in so many ways on this topic. Teach me how to be a better, loving, caring husband in this life, Father, so that I love her in the way she should be loved but also so that I no longer hold any bitterness towards her. The last verse is concerning me being a father. You tell us to not exasperate our children so that they do not become discouraged. Although I do feel I am generally good at this nowadays most of the time, I do still struggle with falling back into my old ways at times. Help me to be a good father to my children, Father. Help me to make less mistakes with being their father, so that as they mature into men they do not hold bitterness, dislike, resent, and hatred towards me as I do towards my earthly father. I have always told myself that I do not want to be like the earthly father I had, yet as Dr. Joe says that is not a very good measuring stick. If my father is a 1 out of 10, then all I am striving for is a 2. You are a perfect 10 in fatherhood and I should always try to be more like my Heavenly Father in this life towards my children. I am still learning, but I am grateful that I have the best Teacher, Father, and Counselor to get me through all of these changes and to guide me in the right direction. Thank You, Father.
EXAMPLE (verses 12-13): These two verses give us a perfect example of the qualities and attitudes a “good” Christian is supposed to have in this life. You tell us that we should put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You tell us that we should be accepting and forgiving of one another just as You have forgiven us. I have so much work to do in my spiritual journey as I have struggled with all of these at different times and done well at all of these sometimes. My prayer today is that the times I struggle become less and the times I do well become more as my relationship with You grows stronger and the knowledge and wisdom that You are sharing with me becomes greater.
*DAILY NOTE: When I first looked at Colossians 3’s length without reading it, I felt it was a rather short chapter and that I likely wouldn’t get much out of it. Oh boy, was I so very wrong! There is SO much to learn from this chapter about life in general and how You expect us to walk in this life. While I was reading this chapter, I felt like You were speaking directly to me the entire time, because I have fallen into pretty much all of the traps You outline in these 25 short verses. I know I am still a work-in-progress, but it is rather heart-wrenching to see myself in so many of the negative attitudes You’ve shown to me today and all the mistakes I’ve made of the years. It’s both encouraging and discouraging. Discouraging because I know all the mistakes I’ve made and I can see them popping out at me on this page. Encouraging because I know the growth I’ve made in the last year or so because of my increasing relationship with You and because of these amazing quiet time conversations with You. Thank You, Father, for all that You continue to do in my heart, mind, and life. Continue You works in me, Father, even if at times I feel it is too much to bear. I know that Your intentions for my life are better than anything I could fathom on my own, so I am grateful for the sharpening, the scorching, the molding, and the pruning You are doing in me.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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