​As we near the end of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we come across his final greeting, which contains the salutations of many of Paul’s companions and co-workers in the ministry.  This list of names and descriptions may seem meaningless to you as a 21st century reader, however, within them lies an important and invaluable truth and lesson.

​Do you like easy-to-understand, short, applicable advice?  Are you one of those people who prefer bullet-point instructions?  Would you be excited to learn that with just two simple tools you can excel at all human relations?  It’s true.  Paul gives us two direct and simple instructions on how to deal with all kinds of human relationships.  We looked at the first one last week and will now ponder the second one today.   

​We’re going to continue with Paul’s short commands today.  In chapter three and the very first verse of chapter four, Paul gave a detailed outline of  how the Christian household should be run and the way in which relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, masters and slaves should be conducted.  Now Paul gives us a practical exhortation on how to handle relationships with those outside the family and outside the Body of Christ.

​As we near the end of Colossians and begin looking at the last chapter, there are several things we’ll notice.  First, chapter four seems to be comprised mostly of extremely short exhortation and commands.  It’s almost as if Paul was getting tired of writing but had many more important points to share, so he wrote them bullet-point style.  We’re going to start looking at one of these short commands today, and will go through more in the coming posts.