Colossians 3:11-14 - "11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
"11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." - Jesus wants His church to have absolutely no barriers in it. Things like race, nationality, education level, social standing, wealth, and gender, have no place in the church. Jesus is in everyone of us and as our lives have been "hidden" in Christ, He is what people see when they look at us.
"12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved," - You are loved by God. Never let anyone try and tell you differently. God wants you to be a part of His church, And in this passage, Paul calls us "holy" which means consecrated, or set apart for sacred use. We are vessels for what God wants to do in this world.
"clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." - Let's break down this list:
- Compassion - Feeling merciful and empathetic for other people.
- Kindness - Being gentle and considerate toward other people.
- Humility - Thinking of other people better than yourself.
- Gentleness - Being calm with other people.
- Patience - Calm endurance with other people.
"13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." - The key to forgiving others is the second half of this verse - remembering how much God has forgiven you. Sometimes it may be difficult to forgive someone who has wronged you, but you need to remember God's infinite love and forgiveness, and that will help you to forgive other people.
"14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." - The strand that binds all of this together is love. As we put on the new self with its virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, the last piece of the puzzle is love, which holds all of the other ones together. In fact, if you tried to practice any of these things without love, they would all fall apart and be useless.
Which of these virtues do you need to clothe yourself with the most?
Who do you need to show love to this week?
1 comments:
hmmm...calm endurance with other people. That is often a difficult one. I seem to face this challenge more often with my family than with strangers. Sad. Thanks for sharing this Brian :)
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