Dear...

How would Paul start his letter written to you? Written to your family? Your church? Your community?

Paul writes to the church at Colossae and he begins with these glowing words. We thank God for you. Do you go through your day giving thanks for the people that have touched your life? For the people that are making the world a brighter place?

Being thankful and having an “attitude of gratitude” is great. But these noble postures can still turn inward. I’m really good at being thankful for the people that make my life better. It takes more effort to recognize the people that make other lives better. In the simple and the profound ways. Paul models for us that it is important to be a blessing to others. But it is equally to prayer for the ones who are a blessing to others.

I also love that Paul recognizes the church of the Colossians and the way they love. If Paul were to write about you this past week, would he mention the way that you love others?

Love is a gift that we give without the expectation of return. Reciprocated love can be self-serving. Sacrificial love is a love that gives without being received. The source, as Paul writes, is our hope that is laid up in heaven.

In short, this tells us that our acts of love are a response, not an initial action. We love because He first loved us. We love because we have a reservoir of love that awaits us in heaven. We love, without the need for reciprocity, because our source and strength is from Jesus. Not the hope of love returned from those we serve.

I’m sure you are not this way, but I am…. I can be really selfish. I like to know what I get out of something before I jump in.

Paul’s introduction, without knowing what the Colossians were doing, paints a picture of a self denying love and care.

I hope you can live this week in such a way that Paul could pen these words about you.

Perhaps this is on my mind because me, my son, and a group of Prince of Peace are headed out on a mission trip this week. We will be helping repair damage from hurricane Ida that hit the Gulf Coast. We are going to serve and love others in a time of need. Many of our team have taken a week off of work. Others are taking a week out of their precious summer vacation.

But here is the secret. While we will be loving others and doing our best to be like the Colossians, it really is no sacrifice. We will be working long hours in the heat and we will be nursing sore muscles. But, for each of us, our hearts will be filled. We do a lot on these trips. We help others a lot and make a lot of significant process. But, truth be told, the beauty of these trips is that more is done on my soul and in my heart than anything we could possibly give.

I’m headed out because my soul needs to sweat for others. My bones need to ache in the midst of serving and love. To do so is to be restored. This is God’s fuzzy math. By adding to others lives our own souls are multiplied. This is God’s kingdom.

So jump in. Serve. Pray. Bless. Love. Go. Do. Not because of what you get out of it (even though it is a lot!) But because this is how God works and this is how the gift of Love becomes contagious in the world around us!

Take some time and write an introduction like Paul to people you care about. If you are so moved, send it to them.