Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy, and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3: 12, 13, NIV.
Dear God, as we come into Your Holy presence, we come seeking wisdom from above. As we enter the study of Your Holy Word, may our minds be enlightened, and may we learn the lessons that will equip us to live the Christian life, by faith. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Today, as we continue with our study on “Taking Care of our Relationships,” and what we can do to preserve them, we come to a cluster of attributes, and/or virtues, that can, not only preserve, but also, enhance, strengthen, and beautify them. We will look at each one briefly, and draw as much as we can from them, to help keep our relationships sweet, and alive! It is interesting, that instead of saying, “behave,” or “act,” a certain way, the apostle is encouraging the addressees of his letter to “clothe” themselves with these behaviors. They were to “put them on.” They were to “wear them!” I find that rather interesting! We wear clothes to cover our nakedness. After sin, when the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened to evil (3: 5, 22), and they recognized that they were naked, they took leaves, and tried to cover their nakedness (7).
I hope that we are aware of the fact, that our petty solutions to the sin problem, are quite inadequate. Only Jesus, can clothe us adequately (21)! Notice also, that in order to provide garments of skin, it requires shedding the blood, of an innocent animal. To provide us with robes of righteousness, it required shedding the blood of – Jesus Christ, “the [Innocent] Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world” (John 1: 29)! Whenever we are clothed with “righteousness,” whether that be in the form of coats of skin, or virtuous living, let us not forget, that it is Christ, by His grace, who provides it for us (Galatians 2: 20).
Compassion. We need all of the compassion that we can bring into our relationships! We need to be able to feel profound sympathy for each other; especially when we fall. When people are suffering, and things go wrong, they need to be dealt with, in compassion. It is usually at these times that the adversary incites us to step on the fallen one. May God help us to come to grips with the reality, that we are all subject to temptation; and that the compassion we show to others, may come back to bless us when we need it; or, it may be missing. Compassion, is also needed for our day to day dealings with one another. In sickness, in moments of financial stress, when difficult circumstances press upon us, we need to feel the compassion of those who are closest to us. Individuals who “put on” robes of compassion tend to have lasting relationships.
Kindness. This attribute is very similar to compassion. I believe that the major difference between the two is that compassion is usually offered in times of need or difficulty. Kindness is a virtue that should be seen at work, in every act in the life of a Christian. This virtue, like compassion, is available to all of us. To be thoughtful of the feelings of others; and to be willing to share what we have with them, are, I believe, forms of kindness. Every relationship would be blessed by having kind people as a part of it. Kind people think, before they speak. They want to be sure that their words will not cause harm to anyone. Kindness will sweeten every relationship that it touches. This robe comes in all sizes. “Wear it” at all times!
These attributes are very helpful in taking care of our relationships. We will look at the others mentioned in our Scripture, as part of our devotional tomorrow; and may we allow the Holy Spirit to make manifest these virtues in our lives.
NOTE: I regret the late publication of today’s devotional.