Colossians 3:12-15 (ESV Strong's)
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.
Put On ...
We all understand the concept of putting something on when we apply that phrase to clothing. We are told when we are younger, “Put on your boots.” We are told when we are in our teens, “Put on nice clothes for church.” We are told when we go to work, “Put on the company shirt.” In the above passage, Paul is telling us the same thing, in regard to spiritual clothing. Boots protect, clothes for church so respect, and the company shirt shows loyalty. The items listed above are for some of the same reasons but for our spiritual protraction, respect for God and loyalty to the Body of Christ. In this entire chapter Paul is trying to tell the Colossian believers how to live their lives. In the first two chapters he warned them about false teachers. The teachers were wanting them to do “outward” behaviors to demonstrate their faith:
Colossians 2:18 (ESV Strong's)
18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,
In chapter three he begins to list the things of the heart and mind that we are to be clothing ourselves. The list is very similar to the Philippians 4:8 list and ends in the same restful: The peace of Christ ruling your life. As we “dress” ourselves in the Spirit of God we can rest ourselves in the Peace of Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment