Therefore, as God’s choice, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other. And over all these things put love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Colossians 3:12-14 (CEB)
Chosen, holy and dearly loved is a descriptive phrase found many times in the Bible. I have to admit – I have a little trouble viewing my sinning self as holy. But that’s the way God sees me. Those are His words.
As Christians, by faith we accept everything in the Bible as the divinely inspired Word of God, reflecting His will. When we make the mistake of trying to understand with our natural, worldly minds it doesn’t make sense. That’s one of the reasons we have been instructed to meditate on the word and to pray for the wisdom to understand. Without the instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit, our worldly minds are incapable of comprehending spiritual matters.
We were not made holy by anything that we’ve done. That was accomplished by the blood of Christ.
As the chosen people of God, the fruits of the Holy Spirit should be evident in the way we live our lives and in the way we treat others. We are to clothe ourselves, or put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We forgive as our Father has forgiven us.
We have to choose to accept grace. It is only by the grace of God, made available to us through Jesus Christ that we can produce these fruits of the Holy Spirit.
And over all these things put love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
When we truly love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and all of our strength….change happens.
June 10, 2012 @ 7:18 pm
Your post seems to be speaking directly to me, as the last post I wrote on my blog is about change. I guess I never realized that all we really need to do is to accept God’s grace, as He has already done what has to be done. Everything else will follow. Thanks, Taylor 🙂
June 10, 2012 @ 8:55 pm
I’m so happy you came by and found something you needed. Isn’t it amazing how God orchestrates our lives? Many Blessings and Much Love.
June 4, 2012 @ 1:21 pm
Hugs and wishes for a beautiful week ahead.