Through (not so social) social media, and news, we have all seen the disorder, and vile practices in our world. From the practices of killing unborn babies, people hating people, and blatant disregard for personal property and the disorder of our family unit and marriage. Why does God allow this?

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

James 3:16

I have been ministering a the skate park for many years now, I have seen the beginning reversal of this disorder and vile through gathering together as the body of God and following God’s commands. Mark 12:30-31 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

We have a skate crew “Blood Wave” that drives over an hour to our park on a regular basis, This crew will also drive to another park called Truth Stake in another city. One of our staff members also skates at this other park. One day the leader of Blood Wave stopped Peter and ask “Are these parks are own by the same person?” Peter replied, “NO, they are separate ministries, why?” Blood Wave’s reply shows me we are walking out of Mark 12 “Every time we skate at these parks we are encouraged and accepted that not the norm at other parks”.

We have become selfless, love them where they are, and not expecting them to change first. and because of this unconditional love and acceptance, they are changing. Making our park a microcosm of what could come, this took the member of our staff and volunteer to become selfless.

To obtain personal selflessness we need to follow the example found in Colossians‬ ‭3:1-17.

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:1-17‬ ‭MSG

Through this verse you can see so many thing we can to do

1. Pursue the things over which Christ presides – PEOPLE, we need to stop looking at our phones and engage and pursue people for the kingdom, this can look so many ways.
   
2. Eliminate the ways of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. – if we are pursuing these physical actions we will never be pursuing people as Jesus did. Things will lead you to death spiritual if not physically
   Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; Romans 14:16
   
3. Eliminate bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk. – These are internal motivations. these actions will show your heart’s motive and can drive people away. Luke 6:45 “You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.” ESV “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
   
4. dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Phil 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
   
5. Stay connected Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing.
   
6. cultivate thankfulness

We all have areas of selfishness those areas we hold sacred, that we don’t want to or won’t give up. For some, it might be their time or schedule, others it may be their finances. If God is telling you to give time or money to someone, even one on a street corner holding a sign and you don’t you then take time to check your heart. The key is God telling us.