Putting Off and Putting On

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection."
Colossians 3:12-14

This passage holds a special place in my heart. The first sermon I ever preached that was worth anything (it was probably the second or third time I ever preached) was from this passage, these three verses. When I say "worth anything," I'm not necessarily speaking of content either. I am speaking more about the length of time I spoke to those good people. The first time I ever spoke was amazing. I had all of these notes, pages and pages of them. But no one had explained to me that there is a law in the universe that the first time you speak your notes are reduced in time unequal to the amount of paper you have before you. So it lasted about ten minutes, if that. So by the time they let me speak again, God had matured my walk with Him a bit, and matured my studying of His Word, so that when I came to this passage, it truly spoke to my heart first, so that I could then in turn teach it to others.

Paul has been telling us to put off the old man, put off the ways of the world, put off, put off, put off. Now he tells us that we get to put on some things. It is like taking off old dirty, soiled clothes, having a bath, and putting on brand new clean clothes. Paul tells us that we are holy and beloved of God. Did you know that? Do you accept that? It doesn't matter who you are, where you've been, or what you have done in the past, when you come to Jesus Christ and believe in Him and receive Him as your Lord and Savior of your life, you are placed in Christ, so that God sees you as holy. What a deal that is! You are beloved of the Father, a joint heir with Jesus Christ, making us all sons and daughters of God. Wrap your mind and heart around that one for a minute. God the Creator of the universe, loves you as a son or daughter. It is an amazing fact.

The first thing that Paul tells us to put on is tender mercies. Our God is a merciful God. David understood this to be true. Just read through some of his psalms that he wrote, and you can see it right there. He understood the mercy of God. And now, as true believers, we are to put on tender mercies toward others. Yes, I know that it is difficult sometimes. There are those in our lives who have hurt us. Believe me I know. But as I read His Word more, and live my life, and study His Word, I see a God who is loving, and gracious, and merciful to me, and to His people. Yes I fail. Yes I mess up. No I don't take for granted God's grace and mercy. But that doesn't change His nature. He is a loving and gracious and merciful God. Yes He is a God of justice and wrath as well. But He did not appoint us to wrath but to salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:9). So, because He is merciful to us, we in turn are to be merciful to each other. Yes, I saw that guy who cut you off in traffic (could have been me). No, I don't know all the details of how she hurt you, or any of that stuff. I only know what the Word says. And it says, that as a true believer, I am to put on tender mercies, regardless of past junk.

I could go through each one of these things, and this posting would be as long as the day. So consider this. We are also to put on kindness, even to that grump in the checkout line at the supermarket (that too, could be me). We are to put on humility - putting others first ( a concept that by itself could revolutionize our world), meekness, which means that even though you could, you won't. Paul then tells us to put on longsuffering, which means patience with one another. We are to bear with one another, which means to put up with one another, yes, even with a good attitude.

And we are to forgive one another. Keep in mind that Paul is writing to believers here. You know, I read an article years ago, that is still true today. It said that the Christian army is the only army in the world that shoots its own wounded. We don't forgive one another like we should. And we need to. After all, think about your own life, and the things you have done, your own sin, and what Christ has forgiven you. Now we in turn, are to forgive others with that same forgiveness. Paul gives us a command here. As true believers, we are to forgive one another. Period.

Finally, above all these other things, we are to put on love. Not physical love, not brotherly love, but agape love. It is a love that sees all these faults that our neighbors have, and loves them anyway, looking through the eyes of Christ. Paul says that this love is the bond of perfection. Jesus says that by our love for one another, that's how the world will know we belong to Him. So let me ask you, are you putting on these things? Tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another. These are what we are to put on. And like an overcoat when it rains, over all these things, we are to put on love. How loving are you today? How are you showing the world that you belong to Jesus Christ? By your words? The world doesn't want to hear you talk. The really, really want to see you walk. So let us preach the gospel to the world, and as Francis of Assisi said, "use words if necessary." Amen.