Verse of the Day 2/11
Colossians 3:12-13 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. New Living Translation (NLT)
Early in Matthew chapter 5 in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave us the "Beatitudes" and how we are to have such qualities as meekness, being merciful, pure in heart and have a thirst for "righteousness", being right before God. Later in the same chapter he called out the Pharisees when he stated in verse 20 "unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Those must have been sobering words for his hearers and they should be for us.
The Pharisees were so caught up in knowing and following the "letter of the law" that they failed to see what was at the heart of it, those things described in the Beatitudes. Following the "law" flows out of a heart that seeks to be right with God and shows love, compassion,mercy and humility. In today's passage the Apostle Paul echos what Jesus had taught in the Beatitudes bringing up forgiveness and calling his readers to "make allowance for other's faults". Isn't that something that we need to see of in our society today. Think about that a little more. Couldn't we use more of that in our churches and in our homes as well?
Going back to the beginning of the verses we are told that we must "clothe ourselves". We must put on clothes. They don't just appear, they don't jump out of the drawers and closets and magically appear on us. Day by day, they must be picked out and put on. So too, as we go out we must decide how we are going to live our lives, what we adorn ourselves with as we go out into the world. May what the others see be "tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and forgiveness" as we go about our day.
As these thoughts were going through my mind the following old hymn came to mind.
Joy of Heaven to Earth come down
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling
All Thy faithful mercies crown
Jesus, Thou art all compassion
Pure, unbounded love Thou art
Visit us with Thy salvation
Enter every trembling heart
Into every troubled breast
Let us all in Thee inherit
Let us find that second rest
-- In Christ, Mike Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. NIV
Colossians 3:12-17 English Standard Version (ESV)
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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