(Colossians 3:12-25)… Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man has a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye service, as men pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
We belong to a kingdom that does not only tell us to live a life but also teaches us how to live the life. The big question is, how now do i live my life? The scripture above presents to us a template as to how to live our lives now that we have put off the old life. There are a lot of things people misunderstand in the body of Christ.
That is why after receiving Jesus Christ into our lifes, we discover we still have issues. Now, let me make it clear here that, being a Christian does not exempt you from problems, it does not stop people from fighting against you, but what brings peace to you in all ramifications is your ability to control your emotions and manage conflict.
If what has been controlling you negatively before has been removed, then, you need to of necessity replace them with other things that are of God in order to live a perfect Christian lifestyle that is acceptable to God. Therefore, in this episode, I will take you on a journey that would place your feet on a pedestal of glory.
There are things God has outlined for us from the scripture above that would help us in the newness of life. Please, follow me carefully as you read.
1. Bowels of mercies:
To be merciful is to be compassionate especially toward those that are less fortunate. It also refers to having a tendency toward forgiveness or pity. Taking laws into your hands by revenging what someone does to you is totally outside the jurisdiction of the kingdom of God. Paying evil for evil is only contained within the jurisdiction of the devil. If you have been doing that before, you have to put it aside now because, all old things should pass away without reservation. When you show mercy to someone, it does you more good than the receiver of the mercy you are showing. …Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Matthew 5:17)
To be continued
2. Kindness:
To be kind is to be benevolent and affectionate. In other words, kindness is having a disposition to do good. As a new man or woman in Christ, learn to do good to people. Be kind to them in your words, attitude and judgment. Treat people equally without any iota of biasness. When you see somebody that is genuinely in need, do not wait to be asked before you step in. … The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. (Acts 28:2)
3. Humbleness of mind:
This talks about the state of your heart. There are a lot of people that appear to be humble physically, but are more proud in their mind more than anything else. They look down on everybody. Funny enough, if those kinds of people see you, they can lie down on the ground for you. But as soon as you leave their or they leave where you are, they pieces you with their mouth. Those kinds of people only respect people with their lips. That kind of lifestyle is totally against God because God looks at the heart and He knows the content of everybody’s heart and He would judge the activities of everyone’s heart. … “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.” (Proverbs 14:3)
4. Meekness:
This is a state of total humility and submissiveness. It takes meekness to have a perfect walk with God. Moses was recorded as the meekest man on earth because of his level of loyalty to God. Meekness is when you lack capacity to reject what God wants. Meekness is different from humility in the sense that you can be humble to someone and still not agree to some of his terms or will. But when you are meek, you do whatever you are asked to do whether it is convenient or not. You can be humble and not meek, but you cannot be meek and not humble. Meekness is what guarantees your inheritance here on earth…Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)
5. Longsuffering:
Longsuffering talks about endurance or patience. Patience is a vital ingredient of faith. Faith is a potent force that brings seemingly impossible situation or the invisible into tangible a reality. But it needs patience to prove its potency in any man’s life. In other words, the validity and viability of your faith is tested in the degree of your patience. Patience is what keeps your hope alive and when hope is not lost, faith lacks capacity not to deliver.
6. Tolerance:
Tolerance is an ingredient you cannot do without. Tolerance simply refers to your ability to put your standard way of life in control or check in order to accommodate other peoples’ excesses and flow with hitches. In your journey of this Christendom, you would encounter different people with their individual idiosyncrasies. It takes a lot of tolerance to serve God smoothly with people around. This means you need to of necessity, learn peoples’ temperaments and treat them from the perspective of their temperaments.
7. Forgiveness:
Forgiveness is one of the most neglected subjects among believers today, and lack of it is a very dangerous poison the church needs to take seriously today. The most dangerous thing about unforgiveness is that, it is not visible to the eyes and that is why it is very bad. From the beginning of this book, I took time to elucidate the three stages of spiritual metamorphosis. Unforgiveness is sin. As simple and easy as a lot of people take it to be, it is capable of depriving anybody accesses into the realities of God. (Matt 5:23-24, Matt. 6:13-14)’
8. Love:
The last part of Colossians 3: 14 says, love or charity is the bond of perfectness. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Corinthians 13:13) The word ‘charity’ in the scripture means Love. A lot of Christians have chosen to go in the way of faith, hope and even power, and neglecting the rudiment. Love is what proves the authenticity of walk with God. God Himself is love, so, you cannot say you know or serve God with expressing the God (Love) in your actions
9. The Word:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16) The word of God is a non-negotiable requirement for the survival and growth of any child of God. God Himself cannot do anything without His word. Your success, exploit, breakthrough and total being are in the word of God. Living without the word of God as a Christian is like removing a fish from water or aquarium. Pretty soon, it would die. There is no solution to sin outside of the word of God; there is no solution in life outside the word of God… (Psalms 119:11, John 1:1-3)
Remain Blessed.
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