Colossians 3:12-14
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowances for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
When you get up in the morning your clothes do not just get on you automatically. You have to choose what you want to look like that day and then put on your choices. It is the same for this list that we are given here in the book of Colossians. We must choose to put on love, to put on mercy and kindness and we must choose to put on gentleness and patience. Notice that these things are listed as something that we should clothe ourselves in, something that we can choose to do. But look what is said about forgiveness. Forgiveness is not so much seen as a character trait to put on as a choice, but it is given as a command. The word of God says that we MUST forgive others and that we should never forget how much God has forgiven us.
Daily we must choose to put love on our hearts and minds. The word of God says that it is love that binds us all together. So when you clothe yourself with these character traits of God you must remember that he will draw us all together with his love. Don't worry if everyone else is not listening to what God says to do, that is not your concern. It is your concern to do as God expects you to do.
Daily you must choose to put mercy on your mind. Because there will be times when you feel tempted to show no mercy toward others. You need to remember that if you refuse to show mercy, mercy will not be shown to you. You will be forgiven with the same measure that you forgive others. You must choose to put kindness, gentleness and patience on your mind and heart when you find yourself in the mood to make a judgment against someone.
Love is the belt of truth that keeps us walking in harmony. The truth of love keeps all the other character traits in there proper place, for it is love that binds us together and reminds us that we are one in the body of Christ. Without the belt of love we would slip into a condemning judgmental attitude when we see our brother fall. But when the truth of love is wrapped around you, you are able to help your brother find his way back when he falls. If you are slipping and tripping by not living the way God expects you to live then how can you expect to help anyone else who is falling away from the Lord and his glorious light?
In James chapter 1 verse 5 we are told to ask for wisdom if we need it and God will give it to us. Do you notice how we are told to put on this list of character traits of Christ but when it comes to wisdom God tells us to ask for it and he will give it to us. Wisdom is not an action that we can take on our own, it is a blessing given from above to help us measure our thinking and our hearts. Wisdom is given as a gift that allows us to see more clearly through the eyes of Christ. Wisdom allows us Gods view of a situation. When you clothe yourself with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness patience and love, having Gods wisdom will insure that you don't overlook an opportunity to be the person God created you to be. With these character traits of Christ alive in you and with his wisdom allowing you to see what he sees, you begin to understand why it is love that binds us together. With out love you are nothing. Wisdom is the accessory that makes us completely able to be pleasing to God. Without his wisdom we stand as fools in the face of the almighty.
Gods wisdom is a magnifying glass that shows us his love, his mercy, his gentleness, his kindness, patience and humility. For we should never forget that Jesus Christ is God and he humbly left his throne in heaven to become a human being just like you so that one day when you needed to know that he understands how you feel, he could say yes he does and that he brought with him all the love in heaven down to earth to show you the way to have eternal life with him.
So just remember that God didn't put you here just to leave you wandering alone and helpless. He placed you here on his earth with a purpose and for a season in time. He gave you ten laws to live by and a list of his character traits to follow. And he offers his wisdom and insight if you ever need to see more clearly what it is that he expects of you. So make sure to put on the right clothes. Don't wear any attitude that would be offensive to God and make sure to magnify his love to everyone you meet today.
