As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Colossians 3:12 NRSV
Good morning God’s holy and beloved! Pause for a moment and think about those two words; holy and beloved. While we may not often think or feel holy, we can make that claim because we have been made pure by Christ’s sacrifice. His blood had removed the stain of sin from our souls and purified us. We know that God loves us, but being beloved is different. To be beloved means we are cherished and held close to God's heart. Think of it like this, we have friends we love, but our family is dear–we share a special bond.
While we enjoy this unique relationship with God, there are some expectations on how we are to conduct ourselves. Things we should exhibit as holy and beloved. These attributes are the polar opposite of human standards. We are to be compassionate instead of unfeeling, demonstrate kindness in place of heartlessness, respond with humility instead of ego, react with meekness instead of aggressiveness, and show forbearance over impatience.
At first, it seems like a nearly impossible list. But the hope lies in the fact that we are "God's chosen ones, holy and beloved." Knowing this would be difficult, God, in His grace, sent the Holy Spirit, our internal guide to righteous living.
Our most excellent God, we give you thanks for Christ’s gift that makes us pure and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We confess we sometimes find it challenging to conduct ourselves as your holy and beloved. We have failed to be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient; we need your help. Forgive us when we fail, and help us grow into righteousness. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Tim
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