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Your New Clothes (Part 1)

Going through the book of Colossians, Paul has been writing about the changes God accomplishes in us. In my last post I looked at who we are in Christ. Today we’ll see what we’ve been endued with.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Colossians 3:12 NIV

One thing that I want to point out from the start is the fact that the apostle says clothe yourselves. This is not something that we just sit back and wait for the Lord to do. I have to initiate it.

I’ve talked about this many times in the past. It happens as we pray in the spirit. These things are the characteristics of a walk in the spirit.

Compassion. This is a very important concept. The literal Greek words used for this is bowels of mercies.

That might not sound good to our modern ears. To the ancient people, the bowels spoke of the seat of our emotions. It’s a lot like we use the word, heart, today.

Many times, we don’t understand the way the word mercy is used in the Bible. In the past, I’ve talked about it in great detail. To see my series on mercy, click here.

To sum it up, mercy is God’s blessing on our obedience. However, unlike how we see things, the Lord even blesses us based upon our future obedience.

That’s where this comes into play in our ministries. I have to allow myself to be emotionally moved to see the potential in someone’s life. I need to see them through the eyes of faith – serving God at their best.

Even if they’re not where they should be right now, mercy can be a blessing and encouragement to them. It may spur them forward to a deeper walk with the Lord.

Kindness. This characteristic goes right along the same lines as compassion. If you study how this word is used in Scripture, you’ll come to the conclusion that kindness is blessing those who don’t deserve it.

Paul talked about this in the book of Romans in the context of not judging others.

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

Romans 1:32 NIV

With God, He wasn’t kind to us after we repented, but before, when we were undeserving of His grace. That’s how we need to treat others.

Of course, that’s why we need the power of God in our lives. Blessing people who we believe don’t deserve it goes against human nature.

Humility. This is another one that I’ve talked about in the past. There are many who get the wrong idea of humility. They think that it’s holy to put themselves down.

“I’m not where I should be in Christ.”

“I’m not mature enough to serve.”

Humility has nothing to do with any of this.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Philippians 2:3 NIV

True humility is not about putting yourself down. It has everything to do with how you view others. Your desire should be to lift others up.

In my next post, I’ll continue with these characteristics.

Question: How well do you see these play out in your life?

The Scope of Love

04 Feb

We’re continuing in our study of Luke’s Gospel. Right now we’re looking at the Sermon on the Mount. In this section, Christ is talking about loving others, especially our enemies.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.”

Luke 6:32

This kind of love is all about choices. Most people are very willing to do good things for those who are good to them. But that doesn’t show a difference in us.

There’s more to this question that Jesus asks than is readily apparent. The word, credit, is actually the Greek word for grace.

You don’t need any special anointing of grace to love those who show love to you. If you want to walk in God’s power, then do good to those who hate you.

“And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that.”

Luke 6:33

In the world there’s a saying, “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.” In other words – if you do something nice for me, I’ll do the same for you.

Christ turns this thought on it’s head. He literally says that if you only do favors for people who do favors for you, then what grace do you have. Sinners, with no grace, can do the same thing.

The question is; do you want to show the power of God working through you? That will only happen if you do what other can’t do, or refuse to do.

“And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

Luke 6:34-35

Now Jesus starts meddling! It’s one thing to be nice to someone, it’s totally different when it comes to giving away our resources.

Jesus goes as far as to say that if an enemy needs something we have, then we should lend it to them. That’s hard to do, because there’s a good possibility that they won’t return it. As a matter of fact, the Lord tells us not to expect them to return it.

That’s a hard road to walk. Again, it requires the grace of God to be active in you. More than that, God is transforming us into His likeness. He wants the character of Christ to be manifest in us.

The word Jesus uses for reward, means a payment for services. What we have to realize is that when we do good to our enemies, God takes on the debt Himself. He works out the repayment.

I don’t think there’s any possible reason why God should take on a debt that is owed to me by an enemy. And, for sure, I’m not going to demand it from God. But, knowing the Lord the way I do, I can expect an abundant blessing when I follow His leading.

God’s desire is that we take on a family resemblance to Him. He is kind, and the Lord wants us to walk in that same degree of kindness. Obviously, God’s definition of kindness means doing good to people who are ungrateful and evil. That takes a huge amount of grace.

Here’s the bottom line of all this.

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Luke 6:36

If you study out the concept of mercy in Scripture, you’ll find that it’s nothing like the how we define it in our modern society. Let me just say that in this context, Jesus wants us to view people as to what they could be in Christ.

Ignore how they’re acting right now – even though they may be hurtful to you. See them through the eyes of God’s love.

Question: How have you shown love to an enemy recently?

1 Comment

Posted by Revzacc on February 4, 2022 in Anointing, Ministry, Power of God, The Gospel

Tags: God's love, God's reward, kindness, love, love your enemies, loving others, merciful, mercy, scope of love

A Call for Repentance

11 Nov

We’ve been looking at Paul’s “open letter” to the unsaved society around us. That’s how he starts his letter to the Roman church.

He warns that without Christ, judging each other is pointless. Of course he gets to the heart of the matter.

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

Romans 2:4

That’s the real question that those in the world need to be asked. It’s our job as believers to show them the kindness, tolerance, and patience of the Lord. All the while we should be leading them towards repentance.

The problem is that many times we do the first part while ignoring the second half of this verse. We love and accept the unsaved just as they are. However, if we never show them the way of salvation, they’ll be lost for eternity.

Too often we stay silent because we fear rejection. But they’re refusal of the Gospel is not on us. It’s a choice that they might make.

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”

Romans 2:5-6

Remember, Paul is speaking as if to the unsaved. As believers, we don’t need to worry about God’s wrath. There’s no wrath in Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)

Most of us don’t like to think about this truth. Yet, I believe it’s something we need to ponder. If I, as a Christian, don’t understand what’s at stake, I’ll be very uncaring about the lives within my sphere of influence.

We have a responsibility to warn the ones we love about this future event that everyone needs to prepare for. The apostle shows us the clear choice. It all hinges on what a person is seeking in life.

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.

Romans 2:7-11

This passage is actually a great guideline for checking someone’s readiness to receive the Gospel. You can tell by their works what they’re seeking in life. The words, glory, honor, and immortality, have more than just a religious meaning.

It’s talking about an unsaved person who consistently shows certain qualities. They try to do things that raise dignity, add value to life, and produce long-lasting effects. These are the ones who are ripe for the Gospel message.

Those who are self-serving and only accept what they want to believe need to be interceded for. They need a change of heart by the work of the Holy Spirit first. Then they’ll be ready for that saving Word.

But the bottom line is, no one is outside of God’s love or His grace. Everyone has the potential to receive the forgiveness and salvation of Christ.

Question: Who needs to hear the Gospel in your sphere of influence?

Ministry Qualities Part 3

17 Jun

This is the third in a series about the earmarks of a godly ministry according to the Apostle Paul. He wrote about them in his second letter to the Corinthian church.

…in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left…
2 Corinthians 6:6-7

My last post ended with patience. Now we’ll continue on…

Kindness – This is a quality that most believers don’t understand properly. For a detailed explanation, click here.

Simply put, kindness is not just a matter of doing nice things for people. In God’s eyes, the definition of kindness is; doing good to those who absolutely don’t deserve it.

Our problem is, when someone is doing wrong, we want to see them punished. Of course, when we do something wrong, we want to be forgiven.

We need to spend time with the Lord so that we can pick up the same heart that he has. In that way we can show the love of Christ to all people – even those we label as “undeserving”. We must see others as the Father sees them. They all have great potential in Christ.

In the Holy Spirit – This is probably the most important one. Many of the qualities we’ve looked at so far are impossible to maintain in our own strength. We need the work of the Holy Spirit within us.

That’s how the fruit are produced. We must remain in the vine – Christ Jesus. Time spent praying in the Holy Spirit is never wasted. It changes us more and more into the image of Christ.

Sincere Love – This is a big one! The literal Greek reads love without hypocrisy. How can we do that?

This verse is talking about agape-love. This love is a choice; there’s no emotional involvement.

So if I show love – doing something good – for someone I really don’t like, isn’t that hypocritical? Good question.

Actually, that’s not being hypocritical; it’s being obedient to the Lord. Hypocrisy would be to do something nice for them now, then gossip about them when they’re not around. We’re to show people love and respect whether we like them or not. This also includes whether they’re physically present or not.

This is another reason why we need the power of the Holy Spirit active in our lives. Without His influence, we could never hope to live up to these godly qualities.

Question: How have others treated you with kindness and love in the past?

The Spirit-Fruit: Kindness

18 Oct

For the last few posts, I’ve been looking at the Fruit of the Spirit. If you’ve been following me, then by now you’ve learned that the fruit are not something you can just decide to do on your own. They need to be produced by the Holy Spirit operating within you.

The fruit of kindness is no different. Contrary to what most people think, God’s view of kindness is not merely being nice to people. God uses this word in a very specific way in the Scriptures. He actually tells us that we can’t produce it on our own.

“All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
Romans 3:12

In the above verse, the phrase, does good, is the same Greek word used for the fruit of kindness. According to the Lord, no one is kind.

Why is that? What is it about kindness that makes it so difficult to walk in? The answer to that is found in the description of how God operates.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Luke 6:35

Kindness is not just a matter of doing nice things for people. In God’s eyes, the definition of kindness is; doing good to those who absolutely don’t deserve it. That’s a part of God’s character, but it’s foreign to our human nature.

It seems like the last thing we would do is to help someone who’s hateful or has wronged us in some way. We want them to apologize or admit that they were wrong before we do anything like that.

I praise God that He didn’t treat me the way I deserved to be treated. My place should be in the Lake of Fire. Instead, the Father gave all my sin to Jesus Christ on the cross. It wasn’t fair, but it was kind.

Knowing this part of God’s character is why we shouldn’t be judgmental.

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
Romans 2:4

This is why kindness is so powerful. It leads us to repentance. When we find out just how kind God was, it drew us to Him. Now, He wants us to display that same character through our lives. That shows others that the Spirit of Christ is in us.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32

This is another reason that it’s so hard to be kind. It compels us to forgive people who don’t deserve to be forgiven. Through kindness, we learn what it’s like to see through the Lord’s eyes.

It may be hard to produce, but if we let the Holy Spirit work in us, it will bring powerful results. The world will definitely see something different in us. They’ll be drawn to Christ.

“How could you possibly be nice to that person?”

“It’s only because of Christ in me.”

Spend time with the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to work His fruit of kindness in your life. It will change everything.

Question: What was a recent time that you saw God’s patience operating through you?

1 Comment

Posted by Revzacc on October 18, 2017 in Spiritual Walk, The Gospel

Tags: doing good, forgiveness, fruit of the Spirit, gentleness, kind, kind to the undeserving, kindness, repentance, undeserving

The Spirit and the Word

Tag Archives: kindness

Your New Clothes (Part 1)

The Scope of Love

A Call for Repentance

Ministry Qualities Part 3

The Spirit-Fruit: Kindness

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