What to Wear

Colossians 3:12 "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

In Sunday's service, we talked about Paul's instructions to the church at Colossae in regards to holy living. It is important that he (in the passage right before verse 12) has been talking about "setting our hearts on things above" and putting to death the old things that come out of our human nature (impurity, lust, greed, rage, slander, and malice, to name a few). Then he goes from that into how we should clothe ourselves.

He tells us to clothe ourselves in a certain way because we are God's chosen people, and not only chosen but holy and dearly loved. So, he tells the Colossians, "dress the part!" Clothe yourselves with things that clearly come from the Holy Spirit within you. The Holy Spirit in on the INSIDE, so wear Him on the outside as well! So now we have the Holy Spirit inside and outside. Be who you are, or better yet, be who God sees you to be.

So let's review the character traits from this verse briefly:

Compassion - Compassion is love in action. You see a need and feel moved to help.

Kindness - Kindness is love that is sometimes undeserved. You are loving no matter what.

Humility - Humility is thinking of others as better than or above you. You love others more than yourself.

Gentleness - Gentleness is softness, kindness, or mildness. Whether it is correction or comfort that is needed, it is expressed in a kind and soft way.

Patience - Patience is being willing to wait. Love cannot be in a hurry!

Interesting that Paul goes on to say what binds it all together:

Colossians 3:14 "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

Love is what keeps it together. When I think about that, I think in practical terms. We can act in a compassionate way with a heart that feels resentment about helping. We can show kindness to a person while feeling angry on the inside. We can show humility while having a lot of pride in our hearts. We can act in a gentle way and at the same time feel frustrated and have a hard heart. We can be patient and be screaming "hurry up" on the inside.

When our good behavior isn't matched in our hearts, then at best we are demonstrating self-control. Not a bad thing, by the way. But how long can I really keep that up? If compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience are not coming out of a loving heart, eventually the facade is going to crack and the "real deal" is going to come out.

So, yes, we must work on our behavior, but our real prayer should be that God fills us with love for Him that spills out into love for others. Our prayer should be that we are filled with the Holy Spirit so that the "clothes" of Colossians 3, are honest fruits of our relationship with God. Our desire should be that our love for others is so deep, that our clothing is an outcome of that love.

So what are you wearing this week? Talk to me!