I am learning in this discipleship journey, Christ gives us new life, a transformation of our hearts and minds, but he does this by asking for something in return. He asks us to first redeem ourselves through confession. This is an immediate always ask, but there is something else he asks us for. For each wonderful thing he asks us to give something up.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Colossians 3:12-13
I have been meditating upon this scripture and it came to me that for the things we are asked to put on, we are asked to give something up.
God’s Chosen Ones
I believe to be “chosen by God” means at some point God made the choice for something to happen according to His perfect wisdom, foreknowledge, and will because of His reason, not ours. God has known from before creation what our choices would be in any given situation. Because we have freewill to make our own choices, God knows how to accomplish His perfect will.
28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:28-29
God knew before an human was ever created who would love Him. He already knows who would trust and receive Christ as their Savior and who would not. I believe this means that by God’s perfect will and power one day we will stand before him. We have to exchange our lives for Christ. We have to live for Christ and not our own way. We have to choose to say You Will, not my will.
Exchange: Spiritual death to my will for God’s Will to be done.
18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. Matthew 15:18
Our verse from Colossians says, to put on. If we want to put on Christ we need to examine what is in our heart, and throw those clothes into a burn barrel! Let us explore what Christ asks us to exchange to better see what he gives us in return.
Compassion
Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. The opposite of compassion would be animosity, ill will, hatred, indifference, and merciless. If we are going to put on Christ, we have to allow him to work out everything in our heart that is the opposite of compassion. A lack of compassion is a lack of empathy for anyone outside yourself. A lack of compassion comes from the refusal to change your own beliefs, assumptions, or convictions about others. The gospel can not be shared without compassion. You can not care for or listen to others without a genuine compassion.
Exchange: animosity for compassion.
Kindness
Kindness is the grace worked through to be affectionate, thoughtful, gentle, sympathetic, and tender. The opposite of kindness is selfishness, cruelty, thoughtless, ill willed, and hatred. Christ works grace through us and in return we learn to do all things with kindness and thoughtfulness in the way we speak and act.
Exchange: selfishness and cruelty for kindness
Humility
Humility is the state of being in service to Christ. It means to put the needs of others above your own. It means to acknowledge and accept that your way is the way to ruin, but only through Christ can their be life. Humility is not walking in your own way or power, but to be in complete obedience to God and to walk in His strength and His way. The opposite of humility is pride, arrogance, selfishness, and egotism. Christ asks us to lay our pride, the source of all evil, in the dust and in exchange he gives us a heart of service and humility, to truly put the needs of others and Him before ourselves.
Exchange: pride for humility
Gentleness
Gentleness is the act in which you do things with tenderness and and kindness. It is having a gentle spirit towards others. You are careful with others in the sense you care about their needs and have a desire to allow Christ to use you to meet their needs. The opposite is roughness and carelessness. You do not care about what you say or do or how it impacts others.
Exchange: carelessness for gentleness
Patience
Patience is being quiet, steady persevering and even-tempered. Patience is the endurance to bear provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like. The opposite of patience is frustration, anger, impatience, intolerance, and agitation. Christ wants to work patience and endurance in us so that when storms come, we can endure knowing he is working all things out. He wants to work kindness and gentleness through us to be patient without our journey, with him, and with others.
Exchange: Impatience with patience
Forgiveness
I believe all of these things we are to put on are the result of forgiveness and receiving forgiveness. In order to truly walk with Christ we have to be redeemed. The for word redemption is a greek word that means to change one’s thoughts and ideas. In order to be redeemed we must first be forgiven. We must daily confess ourselves to our Heavenly Father so we can be redeemed. Through being redeemed, Christ begins to transform our hearts which influence a change in our thoughts and behavior. We have to choose to give up animosity, selfishness, pride, carelessness, and impatience if we want the Holy Spirit to work compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience.
I believe the number one stumbling block to this is being unforgiving. The verse continues that we are to bear one another and forgive one another. Forgiveness is what bring reconciliation and amends. As we receive forgiveness, Christ works in us forgiveness of others.
The opposite of forgiveness is, of course, unforgiveness and it plants a root of bitterness in our hearts. That bitterness is what brings animosity, selfishness, pride, carelessness, and impatience. Being unforgiving quiets the work of the Christ in us through the Holy Spirit. Until we forgive, we can not be forgiven, and Christ can not transform us.
Exchange: unforgiveness with forgiveness
Today, what do we need to lay down on the altar? WHat are we struggling with and holding onto that has become a hindrance to the transforming work of Christ? Let is go and throw it down. The exchange through Christ brings great joy and peace to our heart and minds.
It Starts Small 
Leave a comment