Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,509
“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” (Colossians 3:12-15 NASB’95)
If we are the chosen of God, holy and beloved of God, who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, then this means that we have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we were raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And to be holy means to be set apart by God to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, by God’s Spirit.
So, as those who have been transformed by God in heart and mind, so that we no longer walk in sin, and so that obedience to God is now what we practice, we are to put into practice the divine virtues of God in our lives. And the first one listed here for us is “compassion,” which is similar in nature to God’s grace and mercy. We should be people of God who are moved emotionally by the misfortunes of others and who reach out to minister to the hurting, the lonely, and the forgotten, as led by the Spirit of God.
The second virtue is “kindness.” And all of these virtues, because they come from God, and not from the flesh, must agree with God and his divine character and will for our lives. So this kindness is also goodness and uprightness, and/or it is lovingkindness. And this has to do with meeting real needs, in God’s way. Thus, lying to someone to make him or her feel better is not kind. Speaking the truth in love to others is kindness. Doing for others what is for their good, in the eyes of God, is biblical kindness.
The third virtue mentioned here is “humility.” And if you are someone who is humble, you do not think of yourself more highly than you ought or more lowly than you ought, but you think of yourself with sober judgment as God sees you. So you are not a braggart. You are not conceited. You do not have an overly exaggerated opinion of yourself. But you have an honest opinion of who you were and of who God made you to be, by his grace, giving all the glory to God. And you are willing to be a servant to God and to the people.
The fourth virtue is “gentleness,” which is the same as “meekness,” which is not weakness, but it is controlled strength. For Jesus Christ was meek, but he was not weak. He was strong morally and spiritually, and he spoke the truth in love to the people, even though many rejected what he taught as a “hard truth,” and so they deserted him. So, in order to be gentle we make no compromises with truth and righteousness and morality or with the gospel message, but we speak the truth in love, in humility of mind and heart.
The fifth virtue is “patience,” which has to do with not being quick tempered, but being slow to anger, not being too quick to jump to conclusions and thus ending up making faulty conclusions and not well thought-out responses. This also has to do with waiting on God’s timing for him to act in our circumstances, trusting in his timing, believing that he knows what is best for us. It is learning to wait on God while remaining steadfast in heart and mind in walks of obedience to the Lord, even when we lack understanding.
The sixth virtue is “forgiveness.” The Scriptures teach that we are to forgive others as God has forgiven us. And this is something we must do whether or not the person who sinned against us ever repents of his/her wrongdoing and then changes and treats us better. For we who are born sinners have no right to not forgive others of their sins if God, who is perfect and holy, by his grace has forgiven our sins. And we are to forgive even our enemies. And if we do not forgive, it will turn to bitterness and to hard-heartedness.
Beyond all these things we are to put on (agape) “love,” which comes from God who is love, and which means to prefer what God prefers. This is a love which centers in moral preference and so it prefers all that is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord. For the believer in Christ it means to prefer God’s choices and to obey them in his power. And so when we love with this love we will treat others as God treats us, and we will not willfully sin against them, but we will be kind to them.
And if we let the “peace” of Christ rule in our hearts and lives, then we will be at peace with God and with his plan and purpose for our lives, and we will be walking in obedience to his commands, and we will not deliberately and habitually be sinning against the Lord and against other humans. And we will not compromise morality or holiness or godliness, but we will be pure in heart and mind. And we will trust our Lord with our circumstances, even through our trials, and we will put our lives in his hands, and rest in him.
The Peace of Christ
An Original Work / October 31, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Based off of Col. 3:1-17; Eph. 5:19-20
Let the word of Christ dwell in you,
As you teach with all wisdom,
Teaching one another to not
Think on earthly things;
Think instead on things above,
Where Christ sits with God, in love,
Saving us from all of our sins,
Cleansing us; made new within.
Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts,
As you sing songs unto Him;
Speak to one another with psalms,
Hymns, and spir’tual songs;
Always giving thanks to God,
In the name of Christ, His Son,
Who gave His life up for us all,
And gave us eternal life.
Let the love of Christ within you
Rule in your hearts; grace within,
Purifying you from your sin,
Make you whole within.
Forgive as the Lord forgave.
Show His kindness ev’ry day.
In word or deed, whate’er you do,
Glory give to Jesus Christ.
The Peace of Christ Rules
An Original Work / March 16, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
If we are the chosen of God, holy and beloved of God, who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, then this means that we have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we were raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And to be holy means to be set apart by God to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, by God’s Spirit.
So, as those who have been transformed by God in heart and mind, so that we no longer walk in sin, and so that obedience to God is now what we practice, we are to put into practice the divine virtues of God in our lives. And the first one listed here for us is “compassion,” which is similar in nature to God’s grace and mercy. We should be people of God who are moved emotionally by the misfortunes of others and who reach out to minister to the hurting, the lonely, and the forgotten, as led by the Spirit of God.
The second virtue is “kindness.” And all of these virtues, because they come from God, and not from the flesh, must agree with God and his divine character and will for our lives. So this kindness is also goodness and uprightness, and/or it is lovingkindness. And this has to do with meeting real needs, in God’s way. Thus, lying to someone to make him or her feel better is not kind. Speaking the truth in love to others is kindness. Doing for others what is for their good, in the eyes of God, is biblical kindness.
The third virtue mentioned here is “humility.” And if you are someone who is humble, you do not think of yourself more highly than you ought or more lowly than you ought, but you think of yourself with sober judgment as God sees you. So you are not a braggart. You are not conceited. You do not have an overly exaggerated opinion of yourself. But you have an honest opinion of who you were and of who God made you to be, by his grace, giving all the glory to God. And you are willing to be a servant to God and to the people.
The fourth virtue is “gentleness,” which is the same as “meekness,” which is not weakness, but it is controlled strength. For Jesus Christ was meek, but he was not weak. He was strong morally and spiritually, and he spoke the truth in love to the people, even though many rejected what he taught as a “hard truth,” and so they deserted him. So, in order to be gentle we make no compromises with truth and righteousness and morality or with the gospel message, but we speak the truth in love, in humility of mind and heart.
The fifth virtue is “patience,” which has to do with not being quick tempered, but being slow to anger, not being too quick to jump to conclusions and thus ending up making faulty conclusions and not well thought-out responses. This also has to do with waiting on God’s timing for him to act in our circumstances, trusting in his timing, believing that he knows what is best for us. It is learning to wait on God while remaining steadfast in heart and mind in walks of obedience to the Lord, even when we lack understanding.
The sixth virtue is “forgiveness.” The Scriptures teach that we are to forgive others as God has forgiven us. And this is something we must do whether or not the person who sinned against us ever repents of his/her wrongdoing and then changes and treats us better. For we who are born sinners have no right to not forgive others of their sins if God, who is perfect and holy, by his grace has forgiven our sins. And we are to forgive even our enemies. And if we do not forgive, it will turn to bitterness and to hard-heartedness.
Beyond all these things we are to put on (agape) “love,” which comes from God who is love, and which means to prefer what God prefers. This is a love which centers in moral preference and so it prefers all that is holy, righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord. For the believer in Christ it means to prefer God’s choices and to obey them in his power. And so when we love with this love we will treat others as God treats us, and we will not willfully sin against them, but we will be kind to them.
And if we let the “peace” of Christ rule in our hearts and lives, then we will be at peace with God and with his plan and purpose for our lives, and we will be walking in obedience to his commands, and we will not deliberately and habitually be sinning against the Lord and against other humans. And we will not compromise morality or holiness or godliness, but we will be pure in heart and mind. And we will trust our Lord with our circumstances, even through our trials, and we will put our lives in his hands, and rest in him.
The Peace of Christ
An Original Work / October 31, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Based off of Col. 3:1-17; Eph. 5:19-20
Let the word of Christ dwell in you,
As you teach with all wisdom,
Teaching one another to not
Think on earthly things;
Think instead on things above,
Where Christ sits with God, in love,
Saving us from all of our sins,
Cleansing us; made new within.
Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts,
As you sing songs unto Him;
Speak to one another with psalms,
Hymns, and spir’tual songs;
Always giving thanks to God,
In the name of Christ, His Son,
Who gave His life up for us all,
And gave us eternal life.
Let the love of Christ within you
Rule in your hearts; grace within,
Purifying you from your sin,
Make you whole within.
Forgive as the Lord forgave.
Show His kindness ev’ry day.
In word or deed, whate’er you do,
Glory give to Jesus Christ.
The Peace of Christ Rules
An Original Work / March 16, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
