A Nice Start

Correction does much, but encouragement does more.

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Writing letters is a dying craft.  Oftentimes I have great hopes of sending grandma a note to say hi, but unfortunately it happens less than I’d like.  Perhaps the same was true for Paul.  After all, he’d been shipwrecked, imprisoned and continued to tell everyone he could about the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Maybe he’d wanted to drop the Colossians a line for a while and just hadn’t gotten around to it.  But once word got to him that the church was doing troublesome things, he made it a priority to pen them.

There were many pressing things he wanted to say, words of rebuke to help steer them back onto the right path, but you’d never guess it from the first few lines.    “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people” (Colossians 1:3, 4). 

Paul could have started by listing the things concerning him.  Maybe they would have listened and took his suggestions to heart or perhaps they would have become disgruntled and embittered, possibly even leaving the faith altogether.  He took a different route though, one that is frequently evidenced elsewhere in the Bible.  He starts by sincerely telling them of their importance to him and the high level of regard he held for them.  No pretentious compliments solely to prepare for the reprimands.  Just truthful, heartfelt praise.

I often do the opposite, especially when my anger clouds my vision to the things I most cherish about certain people.  Rather than diving in with my hurts and offenses, I’d do well to follow Paul’s example and start nice.