Who can describe the blessed bond of the love of God? What man is able to tell the excellence of its beauty, as it ought to be told? The height to which love exalts is unspeakable. Love unites us to God and love admits of no schisms: love gives rise to no seditions; love does all things in harmony.
Today I focud on Paul and how the self ruled are loved by Jesus in Colossians. He characterized this love as forgiveness, harmony, peace and thanksgiving. Paul’s overarching rule of life is that every word and every deed be done in the name of Jesus (see Col 3:17). Following such a rule affects our outlook on life. We begin to wake each morning with the sense that we are serving Jesus himself, to remember that we do not serve man or ourselves in what we do.
The rule of love is to be applied, Paul implies, in the stewardship of all our relationships, both in private and public.
Families exemplify harmony when people have a goal of submission to one another (Eph 5:21): wives esteem and honor their husbands; husbands cherish and value their wives and work to meet their needs; children are cooperative and teachable; parents discipline with gentle love – encouraging their children toward growth in health and wisdom.
The family is the one institution in which it is possible to say ‘we’ without any loss of individuality and it is important to remember the growth of the individual as part of family growth.
A family in which each does what he can, each receives what he needs, wholly without financial calculation of earning or merit, represents the highest known ideal, our only true approximation to the Kingdom of God, yet countless families, made up of fallible persons, demonstrate this ideal in great measure every day of their lives.
In his further instructions, Paul says that putting on Christ means that Christians are to be people of prayer, giving thanks (see Col 4:2). Only with prayer are harmonious relationships possible.
What can we do to make ourselves more harmonious? How can you serve Christ today? When was the last time your family did something together?
The Quest for God 