Repetition is the key to learning... Repetition is the key to learning... Repetition... (AH, you get it...)
Paul is nothing if not repetitive.
Perhaps he seems so to us because we are reading him all at once - the letters that he wrote were compiled at a much later date than when he wrote them. So perhaps we should cut him some slack. Besides, he wrote these letters to people in very different areas of the world, areas which did not necessarily have easy communication with each other...
So rather than grouse at hearing more of what Paul has to say, perhaps we should learn from him and realize the importance of what it is he's trying to convey...
The take-away from today's reading is from Colossians 2:
2That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of aunderstanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, band of the Father, and of Christ;
I like this because of the idea of having different people's hearts "knit together in love". Paul goes on to explain how to accomplish this - it involves not only personal righteousness and commitment to the Lord, but also in the way we treat each other. Anger, malice, filthy communication, and unforgiving hearts all drive a wedge between people who should be one in Christ. Patience, kindness, humility, and above all charity are what is required to make us (collectively) one with Him.
This is not easy. But it is worth it.
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