Put on the New

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Colossians 3:12-13

Paul has just told the Colossians to put away the old reactions and put on several qualities that reflect the life of Jesus. The first one is compassion, or literally, bowels of sympathy. The ancients believed that the emotions originated in the bowels. We don't think that way, although we get close to it when we say, I've got a gut feeling. Compassion is what we call a heart of pity. It is a sense of sympathy, of empathy for someone. Approach life with compassion. Put it on when you get up in the morning. You are a new man or new woman; therefore, live that way!

After that comes kindness. Kindness is action that reveals compassion. It can take many different forms; a smile, a kind word, a pat on the shoulder, an invitation to lunch, an offer of help. Many years ago, a young man went to live in a large city and fell in with the wrong crowd. He lived a wild life, becoming involved in many hurtful things which almost destroyed him. But he heard a preacher one day and was struck by his words. He went to hear him again, and soon that preacher was able to lead him to Christ. That young man was the great St. Augustine. This is what Augustine wrote of that preacher, Ambrose: I began to love him, not at first as a teacher of the truth, which I despaired of finding in the church, but as a fellow creature who was kind to me. What an open door kindness can be!

The third quality is humility, which has been called the rarest and fairest of all Christian virtues. The chief Christian virtue is humility because it is the exact opposite of the worst of sins, which is pride. Thus, we are to put on humility, to think humbly of ourselves. As Paul puts it in another place, we are to regard others as better than ourselves. We are not to consider ourselves in any way as superior to others. A modern proverb puts it well, we are to remember that, all of us are made in the same mold, only some are moldier than others!

The fourth quality is gentleness, a familiar word oftentimes translated as meekness. Not weakness, meekness! I like the definition that says meekness is strength under control. It is real strength, but it does not have to display itself or show off how strong it is. The first curriculum of the Holy Spirit is that we must become what Jesus said of himself: I am meek and lowly of heart.

The fifth quality is patience. Literally, it is long-suffering, the enduring of another's exasperating conduct without flying into a rage. It is a negative term; it is holding back, restraining yourself from becoming upset or speaking sharply to somebody such as our mate or our child, whose conduct you find difficult and exasperating. Linked with patience is the sixth quality, forbearance. We are to bear with one another. This is similar to long-suffering, but it is the positive side. Literally it is to uphold and support someone, not only to restrain yourself but to support others, encourage them. It is a great Christian quality.

Father, this is what I have always wanted to be like, but I know apart from you it is impossible. It is only through a knowledge of your unconditional love for me and the work of your Spirit that I can be this kind of person. Amen.