Monday Morning Devotion-January 27, 2025
It Makes Sense
…clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have…over all these virtues put on love…Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Colossians 3:12-15
*From May 2007
A little boy was in the post office with his Father and he asked his Dad about all the pictures that were on the wall. His Dad said, "Well son, those are pictures of people the police are trying to find because they have committed a crime." Then the little boy asked, "Well, why didn't they just keep them when they took their pictures?"
The boy's view made perfect sense if he had all the information. For each picture up on that wall there was a different reason why the authorities now had to seek assistance from anyone who recognizes any of them. But yes since they were police photos they probably did have them under arrest at one time.
Sometimes things that seem to make sense really don't. The logical explanation is not always the one that gets acted upon. In this case the authorities couldn't sit around and dwell on the past, they had to act in the present. Winston Churchill once said: "If we open an argument between the past and the present, we will find that we have lost the future." Often, we base how we will act or react today on our actions of the past.
"This worked before so I'm sure it will work again." What if it doesn't work this time? Then what? Do we sit around and complain…"Well, this always worked before, there is no reason for it not to work now. This is not acceptable. It should work. It's got to work."
We can refuse to change because something once made sense, or we can seek a solution as to why it doesn't make sense in today's situation. Maybe there is a good reason why it doesn't work now. Could be similar to the situation of those "most wanted" crooks on the post office wall. Perhaps, the authorities tried to keep them locked up, but a slick lawyer got them off. Then, after being released they committed another crime. Maybe they escaped. Maybe their Moms wrote a letter to the warden and got them excused. Okay, so that one wouldn't work. The point is there was a reason that made sense at the time but doesn't make as much sense now that they are wanted again.
The Apostle Paul, in writing to the church at Colosse gave them some instructions for daily living that still makes sense. Colosse was located in what is now the southwest interior of Turkey. His letters to the Colossians were written to a church he had never visited. It was established by Epaphras, a disciple of his. The reason for writing to them was to help them make sense of all the conflicting information they had been receiving.
According to the Quest Study Bible there a group called the Gnostics who "claimed that they possessed supernatural knowledge necessary for salvation." So, Paul was writing to dispute these "subtle arguments and false teachings that threatened to undermine the Colossians faith.
Since their faith was based on salvation through Jesus Christ, they should try to imitate Him in the way they lived. He told them to first "clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." All of those character qualities make sense. Since Christ stressed the importance of servanthood, Paul mentions the assets that would lead to success in that area.
Notice Paul said for them to clothe themselves with these attributes. We have to dress ourselves. It takes a conscious effort. Our clothes don't just appear on our back. The ones we choose and put on are the ones we wear.
The basis for what they believed was wrapped up in having compassion for others. They were to put on kindness, which speaks for itself. It is the tender-hearted way of doing for others. Just as Jesus was humble, so should they dress themselves in humility as well. This is a way to esteem others instead of self. However, as movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn once said: "When someone does something good applaud. You will make two people happy." So, there are self-benefits to being humble.
Then Paul told them to put on patience. Uh-oh, I knew there was one that would trip me up. To help others you must be patient. Sometimes it's a project, not a simple act of assistance. On top of that Paul adds while we are being patient, we must forgive whatever grievances we have. Boy that's a lot of things to clothe ourselves with. Hope it's a cool day 'cause it could get hot with that heavy-duty outfit.
Paul wasn't through yet. There was one more item we should clothe ourselves with. Love! He said that is the thing that binds all these others together in "perfect unity."
Okay, so maybe we can't put on all those clothes at once. We could concentrate on one at a time. Just wake up tomorrow morning and say I'm clothing myself with compassion today. Look for opportunities to express or feel or act out your compassion for someone. That shouldn't be too hard to do.
The next day you might say: "I know this is going to be tough, but as great as I am I'm still going to be humble today." Well, maybe your self-talk should be couched in a little different terminology, but you know where I'm headed. Look for ways to subvert your wants and wishes to a position of helping someone else. That ain't all bad. Zig Ziglar says, "I'm convinced you can get anything you want out of life if you first help someone else get what they want." All right. Maybe we detect a little bit of a selfish motive behind that kind of thinking. But, hey, if it helps you help others it can't be all bad, can it?
I think the last one I'll be putting on is patience. That outfit is way in the back of the closet behind my winter coat, which is only needed in cold weather. But by being patient (there's that word again) as we put into practice each of the other attributes and doing it with love, even "patience" will come around as well.
It makes sense to me!
Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for this lesson from Colossians. May we take it to heart and try to be more compassionate, and kinder, more humble, gentler, more patient and loving people. And as we demonstrate those qualities, they will rub off on others around us. Amen!