I grew up watching old cowboy movies. There’s a lot of good to be found in those old shows: standing up for what’s right, fighting injustice, championing integrity and honor. But being raised on westerns can also have its pitfalls. We can start to see ourselves as lone rangers.


That isn’t how God created us. We were meant to be in community with others… to be part of a family somehow. Rather than standing against the world alone, we need to live as God intended us to: loving others and seeing them as human beings created in His image. Every person with whom we come into contact is another being in need of love and grace. Jesus didn’t view even the people who killed Him as His enemies. Satan, sin and death were the enemy.


Because Jesus Christ fought the enemy for us and won, we can hang up the spurs and put them in the past where they belong. Instead, we clothe ourselves with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (v. 13). And we let love bind us all together
in Christ.