Friday, October 15, 2021
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:12-14
God’s Chosen Ones, Holy and Beloved
In the book of Philippians we have been reading about what Paul told the church at Philippi a mature man, woman, and chruch looks like who lives worthy of the Gospel. Paul wrote other letters to other churches as well and one of those churches he wrote to was the church in the city of Colosse, giving us the book of Colossians. This letter was written while he was in jail. It is possible that Paul himself had never been to Colosse to visit this community of believers, but Epaphras (a believer and fellow servant of Pauls), had visited, and he passed on to Paul what was going on there. He wrote to warn them of false teachers and doctrines and to spur them on to living worthy of the gospel.
As His chosen ones, holy and beloved, Paul encourages the Christians in Colosse to do some very intentional things to stay diligent in their daily walk. These go right along with his encouragement to the church in Philippi to live worthy. These things are fruit in our lives that will naturally occur when we have a relationship with Jesus and spend time in His word, meditation, and prayer.
Tender Mercies, Kindness, and Humility – this has to do with how we treat others. This is about relationships. Christians should stand out from others in how we treat one another, our family, friends, and the clerk in the grocery store. We should – key word is should. We are human so we fail, and when we do the world notices. When they notice they are very quick to point out that we are Christians and we should be acting differently. Many people have sworn off church because of how they were treated by Christians or because of how they saw Christians treat others. We do have to be careful because they love it when we fail and it doesn’t just affect us, it is a mark against the kingdom.
Meekness, Patience, and Forgiveness - because we are forgiven, chosen, and beloved. God has compassion on us, so we shouild show compassion, mercy, and patience for others. We can bear with others and show forgiveness because He is patient with us and forgives us. We forgive much because we have been forgiven. I know how much I have been forgiven that I don’t deserve. This really makes me think twice about how I treat others that I think don’t deserve to be forgiven.
…forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Paul is reminding them of what the Lord has done for them - so they must also forgive. When we think about the way Jesus forgave us, it should make us more generous with forgiveness. He paid our debt - a debt we could never pay. This forgiveness we have been given. should help us to be quick to forgive others.
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Love binds it all together, the summary of everything described here. The love God has for us is reflected in our love for others. He loves us - imperfections and flaws and all and that is how He wants us to love each other. Of course, we can never love like He loves us - so perfectly. But we can try. Understanding the way He loves us will cause us to want to love others the same way. As His chosen ones, we live in harmony as one body, bound together by this love.
