Colossians 1:19-20
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Make peace. Peace. It has to be made. It has to be actively pursued and fought for.
Recently, a family member was telling me about how things were going at their church. They have a fairly new pastor and he has begun changing some small things in the church. And when I say small, I mean decorations downstairs in the kid’s area—making it more kid-friendly. Things like taking a couple paintings down. You know, things to make the building more inviting to new people.
Well, as you can imagine, there have been some rumblings that she has noticed. People are talking about it and it is turning to gossip. She never participates and always steers clear of even being near those conversations. Gossip is a form of attack on the body of Christ. It is an affront to what is good, what is holy, the very things God calls us to in Christ.
So being the wise sage I am, I encouraged her to shut it down the next time she witnessed it and ask them if they’ve talked to the pastor about what they’re saying. Why? Because that’s biblical. If you have a problem with someone, you’re to go to that person directly and then follow the rest of Matthew 18:15-16.
What does all this have to do with Colossians 1:19-20? Peace has to be made. It doesn’t exist out of chance.
Just like peace can be made in a group of gossipers by calling them to follow the biblical mandate for handling conflict, ultimate peace was made possible for the entire world through the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross.
Peace between Him and us wasn’t going to randomly come to exist. No. He had to take matters into His own hands. And the amazing thing is that He did exactly that.
There is no more strife, no more animosity, no more gossip, no more shame, no more guilt, no more scheming, no more chasms between those of us in Christ and Christ.
Jesus was and is a peacemaker. So as people who are peace receivers, we ought to do the same in our own small ways. And when we do, when we make peace, we’ll be walking in His footsteps. The footsteps of the children of God (Matthew 5:9).
Onward, saints.
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