Colossians 3:12-15

 Therefore put on (as elect of God, holy and beloved), compassion inwardly, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience.  Put up with one another, and forgive one another, if anyone has a complaint against anyone, as Christ has forgiven you, so also you.  Above all these love (which is the bond of perfection),

 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts (to which also you were called in one body), and be thankful.

 God has chosen us  We are now holy  And we are beloved  So we should live differently  As Christians, there are certain qualities that we should “put on”  Notice that we have an obligation here  Why these characteristics?

 Compassion  Compassion is a divine quality  James 5:11 “the Lord is very compassionate and merciful”  “Compassion inwardly”  Deeply felt emotion = in your “gut”  Compassion comes from having a divine perspective

 Kindness  Kindness comes from knowing God ▪ Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”  Quality of being useful, helpful

 Percentage of Americans who: ▪ Think being unkind is a serious problem: 89 ▪ Blame mean-spirited political campaigns: 73 ▪ Think rock music is to blame: 67 ▪ Think talk radio is to blame: 52 ▪ Think their own behavior is unkind: 1  U.S. News & World Report (4/22/96). Leadership, "To Verify.“

 Humility  Humility means that we don’t think too highly of ourselves  The greatest model of humility is Jesus ▪ Php 2:5-8 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

 We are to be gentle  Meek, considerate ▪ “The meek shall inherit the earth” (Psalm 37:11, Matthew 5:5) ▪ Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle…” ▪ the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one’s self-importance  Opposites: Rudeness, harshness

 We are to be patient  Another fruit of the spirit  And a quality of God ▪ Romans 15:5 “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like minded toward one another…”  Patience means avoiding rash decisions  Patience means avoiding fits of anger  Patience means trusting in God

 We are to put up with each other  Tolerate, endure, bear with, put up with ▪ Luke 9:41 “Then Jesus answered and said, ‘O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?’”  We all have different personalities  We all have different gifts and abilities  We all have different levels of maturity  We all have different likes and dislikes

 We are to be forgiving  Divine forgiveness is our model ▪ God paves the way ▪ We respond ▪ We’re forgiven  Our forgiveness of others ▪ We prepare for forgiveness ▪ Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another…”

▪ We are ready to forgive ▪ Matthew 18:21-22 “How often shall…I forgive…7 times…up to 70 times 7.” ▪ We are ready to restore ▪ Luke 17:3-4 “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

 The necessity of forgivness ▪ Matthew 18:35 “So my heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, apart from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespass.” ▪ Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

WWe are to be loving! TThe importance of love ▪1▪1 Jn 4:16 “God is love” ▪1▪1 Cor 13:2,3 “without love I am nothing” ▪1▪1 Cor 13:13 “The greatest of these is love” ▪1▪1 Jn 4:16 “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God” ▪J▪Jn 15:12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you”

TThe characteristics of love (1 Cor 13) ▪P▪Patient (longsuffering and is not provoked) ▪G▪Gracious (kind and isn’t rude) ▪D▪Doesn’t envy ▪H▪Humble (not parade itself, not puffed up) ▪S▪Selfless (instead of Selfish) ▪F▪Forgiving

▪ Rejoices over right things ▪ Protects ▪ Trusts ▪ Hopeful ▪ Endures  The perfection/completion of love ▪ Rom 13:10 “Love is the fulfillment of the law.”

 Peace  We have peace with God because of Jesus ▪ John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” ▪ Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 We are given peace by the Holy Spirit ▪ Gal 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control.”  And peace should “rule” in our hearts ▪ umpire ▪ direct, decide, arrange, control

 So, we have been shown peace,  We have been given peace,  And when we put on these characteristics, peace will rule in us! ▪ We are to “put up with each other” ▪ We are to be forgiving ▪ We are to love ▪ We are “one body”

 Thanksgiving  Theme: 1:3, 12; 2:7; 3:15, 16; 4:2  How can you feel thankful if you are full of bitterness and anger?  How can you feel thankful if you are proud and arrogant?  How can you not be thankful if you know that you are called, holy, and beloved?