¹²As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.¹³Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.¹⁴Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.¹⁵And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Bear with each other...Forgive each other.  They seem like simple things, but when you’re hurt by another person’s words or deeds it is not easy to do these things.  But often the only person we’re hurting by not forgiving is ourselves.  The other person doesn’t always know they’ve hurt us.  And have you ever noticed we’re more likely to be hurt when we’re feeling chaos in life or not feeling so good about life?  Our own context of life plays into our own hurt feelings.  It’s way easier to overlook a misspoken word or hurtful action when we’re happy and life is going well.

Just something to think about as we strive to live in community...where are you in the chaos verses calm conversation?