“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,” (Colossians 3:12)
Then tells us we need to ask: why are we, God’s chosen holy and beloved ones to put on compassion, kindness, meekness and patience? What are we missing by not asking why?
The answer to that question for this verse, and to the same question regarding an earlier list of sinful inclinations of our fallen flesh that we’re to put to death, is found in verses 1-4 and 11:
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
We are to put on those virtues because:
- We have been raised with Christ and should be focused on His kingdom (be heavenly minded) rather than the things of this world.
- We have died (to sin and need to replace it with something else.)
- Christ is our life, not our work, not our hobbies, not our spouse, or even your children if you have any. If they are, we’re making them an idol that we need to die to and learn to hate them compared to our love for Christ, or Jesus said we’re not worthy of Him.
- All Christians equal regardless of ethnicity, race, economic status, or class. The context of this one is don’t lie to each other because we’ve put off the old ways and put on the new described in verse 12.
Praise God then that our new ways are being renewed by knowledge, the most key of which is, as verse tells us, we are to put on virtue because verse ten tells us doing so restores us in the image of our creator. In other words, Christ has a compassionate heart and is kind, humble, meek and patient.
So stop avoiding him to hide from the false image of a distant, angry father, young lady (to preach to myself.)
Father, forgive our lack of understanding and for any idols we’ve placed before you. Strengthen us to crucify the flesh and walk in your ways. We place our trust in you today. We look up to you today. We thank you for choosing us and calling us your beloved. We thank you for your compassion and love. We lift up to you all anger and earthly lusts keeping us from being like you today, and we name specific concerns as you bring them to mind now: ____ We release it all into your just hands and we open our hearts to recieve a renewal of our spirits into imageo deo, the image of God we were originally created in .In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.