Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Col 3:12-14
On a daily basis, we arise from our sleep, we do all that’s necessary before we start our day; we put on the coffee, put on our make up, put on our clothing, put on our shoes, and lastly, we put on our face… you know, the one that we will be wearing that day before we enter the office or wherever the destination might be.
I began to think about this scripture in a new light today and our need to put on this face. We have developed a habit of putting on an attitude of grace in order to confront whatever challenge we come up against. We are good at perfecting the look, the feel and the posture of the new man, whether or not we possess the qualities; as believers, this ought not be. Frankly, if we are going to talk the talk, then let’s walk the walk. We all come with some flaws, faults, and imperfections, that’s a given. Admittedly, we are all different, yet He is still tolerant and merciful with us (and I know this is true for me). He endures us and our ways; He forgives us whenever we ask and expect this of God, even though we find it hard to forgive one another. Even in our conflicts, our misunderstandings and disputes, we must learn to resolve them quickly and not look back. Not letting anything linger or fester to the point of arguing or ill-feelings. We should be loving and compassionate always; having patience with one another just as Christ does with us on a continual basis, every day, all day.
Here in this passage, Paul talks about the position or the role of the believer, he tells the Colossians to put off the old man and the old man ways, in which you walked at one time and lived in them, now that Christ is in you. As believers, you need to put on the new man. When you are a new man (or woman) in Christ, the old you needs to be taken off; especially if the word of God dwells in you, along with the wisdom and the knowledge of His teachings, and you are wrapped up in His love. With this new man comes a responsibility to put on the new mercies or the new qualities that are perfected by this love. We are reminded, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Cor 5:17).
As the chosen people of God, we must possess the characteristics of Christ. This comes with spending time with Him and learning of Him and His ways. We need to put on Jesus daily, the One who is holy, righteous and just; who is kind, meek and humble; full of mercy and loves us from the depths of his heart. If we don’t allow ourselves to learn how Christ wants us to live and to be, it will affect us putting on the most important aspect of all … love. The scripture said “put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." A bond implies, a link or an adhesive substance that binds. If we reread the scripture, it would simply tell us to put on love, which is the connection, the adhesive, the substance that links us together, makes us whole and complete as one body, as the people of God. The fact that Paul has to address this issue should tell us that in spite of what we think, we have not arrived; and that we all need to continually work on developing our Christ-like characteristics and qualities. There is always something about ourselves that needs work or some improvement… and what a great example we have in Christ.
Today, my goal is to think about what I need to put off, but more importantly, what I need to put on.
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
On a daily basis, we arise from our sleep, we do all that’s necessary before we start our day; we put on the coffee, put on our make up, put on our clothing, put on our shoes, and lastly, we put on our face… you know, the one that we will be wearing that day before we enter the office or wherever the destination might be.
I began to think about this scripture in a new light today and our need to put on this face. We have developed a habit of putting on an attitude of grace in order to confront whatever challenge we come up against. We are good at perfecting the look, the feel and the posture of the new man, whether or not we possess the qualities; as believers, this ought not be. Frankly, if we are going to talk the talk, then let’s walk the walk. We all come with some flaws, faults, and imperfections, that’s a given. Admittedly, we are all different, yet He is still tolerant and merciful with us (and I know this is true for me). He endures us and our ways; He forgives us whenever we ask and expect this of God, even though we find it hard to forgive one another. Even in our conflicts, our misunderstandings and disputes, we must learn to resolve them quickly and not look back. Not letting anything linger or fester to the point of arguing or ill-feelings. We should be loving and compassionate always; having patience with one another just as Christ does with us on a continual basis, every day, all day.
Here in this passage, Paul talks about the position or the role of the believer, he tells the Colossians to put off the old man and the old man ways, in which you walked at one time and lived in them, now that Christ is in you. As believers, you need to put on the new man. When you are a new man (or woman) in Christ, the old you needs to be taken off; especially if the word of God dwells in you, along with the wisdom and the knowledge of His teachings, and you are wrapped up in His love. With this new man comes a responsibility to put on the new mercies or the new qualities that are perfected by this love. We are reminded, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Cor 5:17).
As the chosen people of God, we must possess the characteristics of Christ. This comes with spending time with Him and learning of Him and His ways. We need to put on Jesus daily, the One who is holy, righteous and just; who is kind, meek and humble; full of mercy and loves us from the depths of his heart. If we don’t allow ourselves to learn how Christ wants us to live and to be, it will affect us putting on the most important aspect of all … love. The scripture said “put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." A bond implies, a link or an adhesive substance that binds. If we reread the scripture, it would simply tell us to put on love, which is the connection, the adhesive, the substance that links us together, makes us whole and complete as one body, as the people of God. The fact that Paul has to address this issue should tell us that in spite of what we think, we have not arrived; and that we all need to continually work on developing our Christ-like characteristics and qualities. There is always something about ourselves that needs work or some improvement… and what a great example we have in Christ.
Today, my goal is to think about what I need to put off, but more importantly, what I need to put on.
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde
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