Time For A Tune Up

May the patience and encouragement that come from God allow you to live in harmony with each other the way Christ Jesus wants.

Romans 15:5 

 

I remember it like it was yesterday, the first day of band.  Up to that point, few of us had ANY musical training and it showed.  We had learning the mechanics of playing the right notes, but when we actually tried to play them it took only one note for us to realize we really sounded more like a crashing crate of pots and pans than anything, even remotely, resembling music.  Because we had not practiced and were not familiar with the nuances of playing in harmony.  We sounded horrible...slowly we just sounded painful.....by the night of our first concert we had achieved the "not too bad" level where, at least, the song could be recognized. And it took practice!  LOTS of practice!!

 

 What does that story have to do with anything?  Because God gives us patience and encouragement so that we can live in harmony with each other.  Trust me, that takes a LOT more practice than learning to be part of a band.  What happens when we don't practice the patience and encouragement God gives us?  Well, look at the news and you will see.....we end up arguing about anything and everything instead of working together to make this world better.

 

The same applies to every aspect of our lives, we end up tearing each other down instead of building each other up.  We spend our time scheming against each other instead of encouraging each other.  We become extremely impatient with each other.

 

Perhaps it's time for a tune up!  Perhaps if we start practicing patience and encouragement, we CAN learn to live in harmony with each other.