Putting on Christ likeness

Colossians 3:12-13

“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 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.”

I’m still working on a life verse, but the one that has been a light to my path for many years has been Micah 6:8.  “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Have you given consideration to this fact; the follower of Christ is always taking off what is not Christ-like and putting on what is Christ-like.  For some of us, we realize that we are a mess and have been chosen by our Creator.  God, who is All-knowing, sees not the disarray of my life, but Christ who indwells me and calls me His beloved and holy one.

So this thought fills my mind, do I have an understanding of a compassionate heart?  From the Scripture, it is obvious a kind heart has these qualities: love, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.  Wikipedia had this to say, “Compassion is the response to the suffering of others that motivates a desire to help them. Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to help the physical, spiritual, or emotional hurts and pains of another.” 

I have little doubt you recall the account of the lawyer trying to test Jesus in Luke 10:25-37. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”  But the lawyer’s job was not to look for truth and is that not also true today but to find fault, so he asked, who is my neighbor?  I bet you have read this story of the Good Samaritan often if not today is a splendid time to do so.  But Jesus gives a much better answer than the one above, for in the Samaritan we see these qualities: kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

One of the biggest takeoffs is the fear of forgiveness; it is much easier to help a person in need than to forgive someone who has broken a trust.  The enemy of our soul will do everything possible to keep us from revisiting the debt and offenses Jesus Christ paid for me, the amazing grace that was shown in my forgiveness.  Do you recall Jesus going to Simon’s the Pharisee's house and the sinful woman that came and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and poured ointment on them?  It is a great read and is found in Luke 7:36-50.  It’s a story of sin against God and forgiveness, told in a word picture one will not forget.  “A moneylender had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both.  Now which of them will love him more?”  Simon answered,

“The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt.”  And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Now go and do likewise or as stated in verse 13, “forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice