Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
OBSERVATION
Yesterday Paul told us to get rid of the old characteristics of our sin nature. Today we learn what we need to get more of, and more and more of will be even better.
Here in Colossians we have a picture of the perfect Christ follower. What an incredible list of character traits that we are to strive for.
Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bear with each other and
forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love,
Who can get enough of these traits in their personality? The church would be so much more effective for the Lord if we displayed more of these characteristics, then the world would be beating a path to our church doors.
Maybe the most difficult thing to do is to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. There is a lot of chaos and hurt involved in the human experience on this planet and it is hard to look beyond this existence to the hope we have in the ever after with God (Colossians 1:3-6).
APPLICATION
I will look to Jesus as my example to imitate. I will try to love people and show more kindness.
PRAYER
Help me Jesus to become more like you each day by displaying these traits more and more.
