Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Tuesday May 26, 2026
Transcript
- Greg: Good morning all. It is Tuesday, May twenty sixth. I'm your host, Greg Miller, and this is Beliefs, Ballots, and Bets. Hope everyone ⁓ enjoyed, if you will, their their Memorial Day weekend. Obviously it is a it is a less celebratory holiday compared to most if we if we truly honor what it is meant to be, is as to to recognize those who sacrificed the the greatest sacrifice of all and and laid down their life for the for the greater good of this country and Much respect and love to to all those who have served, but especially those who who gave it all or lost someone ⁓ who gave it all but because of trying to serve our country. Thank you and and God bless. As we as we get into the word today, the the the scripture passage comes from ⁓ comes from the apostle Paul in in the book of Colossians, chapter three. ⁓ we're gonna go verses twelve through seventeen. So bear with me. This one's a little longer, ⁓ but it's it's a really good one. Therefore, as God's chosen people. Holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other, forgive one another. If any of you has grievances against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all of these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of the body you were called to peace, and be thankful. Let the message of Christ Christ dwell among you as richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. That is ⁓ it's a lot there to to unpack, and and we'll dig through it piece by piece here. But but in general, this is and again, this is this is from prison. ⁓ Paul is is preaching to us what a what a Christ-centered life looks like. ⁓ how we are how we are to identify and and project ourselves. ⁓ it it it starts off with with highlighting the the identity. It commands us to clothe ourselves with with specific virtues rooted in in who we are. We are we are chosen, we are holy, we are dearly loved by God. It it speaks of community practices, it it tells us of you know, forgiveness and love as the binding virtues. And and then the the rule of Christ's peace within the community with gratitude and and mutual teaching and admonishment and and worship, but but most importantly doing everything in Jesus' name. As we break it down like in in verse twelve, it it says, Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, this is this is really grounding our identity. This is who we are. our our moral obligations flow from from God's prior action and his status on on con is conferred on believers. Like he is he is holy and he is just and and so those are things he calls us to try to attain. You know, it says clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. This this is you know, Paul is using using an in imagery here implying intentionality. Like you you don't just end up with clothes on, you put clothes on. And so this is intentional and and visible. This is something that that is a is choices you make that shape how you present yourself to the to the rest of the world. And and all of the listed verses here are they're they're relational and they're they're countercultural in today's world, but it's a it's a way of living that that reflects the character of Jesus. It it goes on and and says it tells us in in verse 13 to to bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance. And this this bare width is is not meant as a tolerance, but it's more of a meant of a kind of a patient endurance, if you will. And forgiveness is is a practical response to inevitable conflicts. That you're you're never going to agree, people are gonna cross you, you're gonna have you're gonna have conflict, and and forgiveness is is crucial. The the exception here is the the the expectation rather is is a mutual. approach with with your circle. That this is this is the approach we all want to try to embody with one another. It it instructs us to forgive as the Lord forgave you. You know, forgiveness is is ultimately, you know, modeled on on Christ's forgiveness posture and the fact that He forgave us and sacrificed Himself to forgive us for all of our sins. And so when you look at it, it's it's not optional for us. This is this is not something that we we need to be trying to do. This is something we are to do. It is this is very much forgiveness is absolutely rooted in the gospel. As as we go further on and we get into into verse 14 and and over all of these virtues, put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity. You know, love is, you know, the the saying is God is love, love is God. Love is the the executive virtue in this case. It the the deep rooted love is is what holds together all of the other qualities and and helps produce unity within the the the body of Christ. The the image of of a binding love in this case, it it suggested an element of cohesion and and not merely tolerance. This is this is people this is things you're attached to. You're the the cohesion you're you're adhered to. ⁓ this is not just people you you can deal with being around. Get into the verse fifteen and and it's focusing on peace and it says, you know, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. And and this is implying that that the Christ teachings and the and the peace that he instills in us is to is to be paramount in in governing our decisions and our attitudes and our conflict resolution. You know, peace here is is both inward and outward. It is it is an internal peace that you get from him that allows you to project an external peace to the rest of the world. It it goes on to say, you know, to which indeed you were called in one body. And this again, this is this is really highlighting the the unity that the That part of the calling is is to be one body as a church. ⁓ and that that one body is is called to project peace. He tells us, Paul tells us to to let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. The the the content of of a communal life is Christ. Like for for all of us to coexist, we all need him at the center. His word, his message, all of that, that that should permeate any teaching, correcting, or any mutual growth. So so it's not, you know, and we'll get into this a little bit later. So it's not telling you to be passive and not have conflict. It's just trying to direct us on how to handle conflicts and and to do so in a Christ-like way. It tells us to to sing psalms and hymns with with gratitude in our hearts. And and then at the end, and and it closes out, and this is This is ultimately the the greater calling as it all. And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. This is ⁓ I mean it we've touched on this in previous episodes. It's it's just quite simply saying every action, every word is to be done under Jesus' authority and and with thanksgiving and with gratitude and and in a manner to to glorify and and honor him. This this will will ground ethics and worship into it in centered in Christ's Lordship and and and will center yourself and and center all of these things on on gratitude. And gratitude is is is crucial. Start you start each day, you know, following the the outline of this verse. Start each day, you know, reminding yourself of your identity. You are you are chosen, you are holy, you are loved. And then try to try to take one of those virtues, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, patience, love, and and and decide I I am this person and I am going to put on this specific virtue today. ⁓ and just pick one and and try to try to remain aware of that as you go throughout your day. Try to remain aware of that that one particular virtue you decided you were going to to embody this day. And and when conflict arises, you know, practice bearing with with people and and seeking to forgive as modeled by Christ and and ask whether whether your approach and whether your responses in this conflict, whether whether this fosters unity or whether this is leading to division. And then, you know, as as as we move forward, you know, as a church, prioritize teaching that that centers on on Jesus, centers on the teachings of Jesus. We can't be scared to stand up and teach what Jesus taught. We need to cultivate, you know, worship that it that expresses gratitude and and creates, you know, structures for for mutual admonition, but in in a loving manner. We We're not we're not asked to be passive, but we are asked to correct in a loving manner. You know, when you're when you're making decisions throughout your day, ⁓ ask yourself, does does this promote Christ's peace and does this promote unity? ⁓ it's not going to apply to every choice, but there are plenty, plenty of choices that it does. ⁓ and then as we've we've kind of touched on here, this is you know, the bearing with and asking to forgive. It it's not a call. Calls of or not a call to passivity. It's it's simply saying that, you know, Jesus is not asking us to ignore abuse or ignore injustice. Just the opposite. He quite routinely calls out and admonishes people for the wrongdoing. And we must care for victims and and we must we must do our part to instill justice and uphold justice. But we also still have to make sure we're we're pursuing forgiveness and reconciliation in the relationships whenever possible. All right, guys. ⁓ we hadn't had a few hadn't had plays in a couple of days. ⁓ the last last three plays ⁓ was on Saturday. We went two and one Saturday. ⁓ that brings us to 28 and 18 ⁓ since we started the podcast and since we've been keeping the record here. Not terrible. 20 and 18's put a little money in your pocket, so that's ⁓ that's not a not a bad thing at all. Got four plays today, ⁓ three baseball plays and a basketball play. Three baseball players. We're going Phillies at the Padres. Give me the Padres minus 125. We're going with the Twins on the road, minus 120 at the White Sox. Going through the Washington Nationals at Cleveland. Give me the Indians or Guardians minus 135. I still call them the Indians. They'll always be the Indians. ⁓ and then in the basketball game tonight, ⁓ Spurs and and the Thunder. Let's let's hope for a defensive struggle. Give me the 216 and a half total there. As we as we summarize, guys, you know, and it The the passage today was a was a little long. It was a handful of verses, but but quite simply, you know, Paul is is calling Christians here to to live out our identities as shaped by God. He is calling us to intentionally clothe ourselves with relational virtues, to forgive as Christ forgave, and to let love and and Christ's peace govern our community, not not ignoring or or running away from opportunities for for admonition or or to instill justice. But just centering life in in Christ-centered teachings above all else. And that that's that's relational. That's when it's worship, that's it's just an element of gratitude towards everything. Wake up and start your day thankful for him, identifying yourself in his love, and then clothe yourself with the virtue for the day and try to stick to it as best you can. As we exit, guys, just remember what we always say: get in your Bibles, say your prayers, love one another, and tell the truth. God bless.