This month, we’re reflecting on God’s nature and character to help us find rest in the Lord. This week’s devotion focuses on how God crafts a community around us so that we may better enjoy His grace:

IN WORD –Read the following passage carefully, and when you’ve finished reading it, read it again: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Col. 3:12–14)
This passage immediately confronts us with the fact that our relationships don’t belong to us. They belong to God for His use for His purpose. We cannot allow ourselves to have an owner’s view of our relationships, as if they exist for the sole purpose of our happiness. Something big, important, and transformational is being said here about us and our relationships, something that we need to know, understand, and live out. This passage is a statement of need, identity, and calling for every believer.
First, this passage defines our need. We were not wired by creation or re-creation to live on our own. Independent, self-focused living never goes anywhere good. We must all come to understand and accept the truth that our walks with God are community projects. We were not designed to live the Christian life on our own. The reason God calls us to this high quality of relationships is because relationships are an irreplaceable tool in His redemptive hands.
Second, this passage defines our identity. Think with me; where did Paul get this character list? The answer is that these are traits of Christ. Paul is figuratively telling us to put on Christ, and in telling us to put on Christ, he is defining what our identity is in the right here, right now work of God. The best word for that identity is ambassador. Every believer is called to be an ambassador of the Savior King. Now, you know that the only thing an ambassador does is represent the king who sent him. This means that Jesus makes His invisible presence visible through His people, who represent Him in one another’s lives. You are the look on Christ’s face. You are the tones of His voice. You are the touch of His hands. You are the physical representative of His grace. This is your mission in every relationship of your life—to make the grace of the invisible King visible.
IN DEED – Third, this defines our calling—to ask again and again, “What of the person and work of Jesus does this person need to see in this particular moment of his or her life?” Now, none of us is up to this task, so the Redeemer who sent us also comes with us so that we will have the grace we need to represent Him well. “God’s care comes in many forms. Fellowship is God caring enough to put people in your life to encourage, rebuke, and comfort you.” – Paul David Tripp (in “New Morning Mercies,” by Paul David Tripp)

Have you ever been to a high school reunion? Ever meet someone who is the same after 30 years? It’s highly unlikely, as we are often shaped by the relationships we have had in our life, some for the better and some for the worse.
But if we are willing to trust that God makes divine appointments for us, both to shape us and to enable us to shape others, we can trust that nothing is left to chance. Who are the people in your life that God is using to shape you? It may not only be a good friend, but also that rude neighbor who is struggling in life that God wants you to share His love with.
Take time to read the book of Ruth this week and see how God uses different people to shape Ruth’s redemption into God’s family. Reflect on the people in your life and ask the Holy Spirit to answer Tripp’s questions to you. Have a blessed week! – from Singapore, Pastor Sam