“But above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also
you were called in one body; and be thankful”
– Colossians 3:14-15 –
Love is the grace that crowns everything, it is a rich garment that covers and gives brilliance and worth to all other virtues. For the Hebrews, a ligament or bond indicates something that united, binds, and is cohesive.
“Without the belt of love all other virtues are useless, that is, they hang from the body, dangerously loose, about to fall,” E.F. Scott said. “Love is the motivating power of faith, it is the supreme Christian grace, that is why love does to one’s neighbor only that which is good,” said F. Bruce. It is this love that unites, that binds, that enhances, that gives value to all the virtues in one person, the same love that binds us to other people, in the same bodyof believers.
In the letters of Philippians and Corinthians, Paul refers to peace as a guardian, or a protection. When love and bitterness contend for supremacy, peace is the arbiter to define struggle and resolve the conflict; both internal as well as external conflicts or in the individual with themselves or in their relationship with others.
Being at peace with oneself is the fruit of the relationship of communion with God, of living in God and with God. Being at peace with others is the fruit of the horizontal relationship. Rules by peace, to live and live together.
As Christians we live in peace and in gratitude. Philo, writing about the early Christians, says that they often spent the night singing hymns and psalms of gratitude. Pliny, sending a report about the early Christians to the Emperor Trajan, wrote: “They gather at dawn to sing hymns to Christ as God.” Gratitude is born in the recognition of who I am and who the othr is.
“Begin to thank the Lord for your home and your pleasant surroundings,
and the many temporal blessings He gives you. By returning thanks
to the Lord for His goodness, you can do something for the One
who has done everything for you. Contemplate the depths
of the compassion that the Saviour felt for you.
For you He gave His life, suffering the cruel death of the cross”
(This Day with God, p. 45).