Colossians 3:12-14

Mike Kurtz

 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.

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Unpacking this passage reveals what seems nearly impossible! I mean, look at the character of clothing Paul lists:

  • compassion
  • kindness
  • humility
  • gentleness
  • patience
  • bearing with one another
  • forgiving one another
  • and most of all… love

Every one of these characteristics is a virtue that requires forethought, diligence, and alertness. Think about your life. How do you express compassion to those around you? What about kindness and gentleness? Are you humble in your view of others? What about patience – are you showing patience toward your co-workers or your spouse or your brothers & sisters? This is tough! Are you still carrying that grudge against that person that hurt you?

I like the fact that Paul says that we are to “clothe ourselves” with these things. When do you put on clothes? If you’re a typical person, you put them on first thing in the morning (or whenever you get up). Likewise, if we mentally put these things on before we start the day, it will prepare us for whatever challenges might come our way. Yesterday I suggested you write these characteristics down on a card and have it always in sight. Might I suggest you consider reflecting on these things in the morning before you head out? Think through the day… what is planned? A meeting? A difficult task? A difficult person? Put on gentleness and kindness (for example) first thing in the morning so that you will already be in a place to react appropriately. Be always ready to forgive. Have a mind to be patient even before your patience is tested.

 

The word for today is: Prepare. Prepare yourself by clothing yourself with these virtues first thing with the purpose of giving glory to God.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 at 2:41 pmand is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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