Live Compassionately

Introduction

Marathon runners not only shed anything that might slow them down, they also dress carefully. They choose the best running shoes and the most comfortable shorts and shirt. Golfers wear visors to protect their eyes from the sun and spiked shoes to keep them from slipping while hitting the ball. Taking part in different hobbies and social groups requires specific dress and behavior.

We see in this section of Scripture that Paul tells us to “put on” certain characteristics.

This phrase “put on” means to clothe ourselves with these characteristics.

We take these characteristics on ourselves and wear them proudly around all people.

This phrase is the same phrase found in Eph. 6:11 about putting on the armor of God and in Rom. 13:14 where Paul tells us to put on Jesus Christ to avoid fleshly desires.

As Christians we are a new creation and we have put on the new self as Col. 3:10 says.

We are to put these characteristics on and continue to be renewed in knowledge after the image of our creator.

We are one in Him and we are holy in His sight and beloved.

We are His because He wants us. We are His because He saved us. We are His because He gave all for us.

And since we are a new self in Christ and holy in Him, we must behave this way that we will read in a second.

Looking back into the first of this chapter we see that as new people in Christ we need to set our minds on the things above (v. 3).

We are to put to death earthly desires (v. 5).

And we are to put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk.

That is how we all once walked when we lived according to the ways of the world. We lived there but we are no longer of that world.

Yes, we are in that world but we are not of that world anymore.

We are new and in Christ where we are one with Him and fellow believers.

We live with and for one another.

We love each other because if we hate anyone we hate ourselves because they are part of us because we are one body which means we are one.

As one, we must live together with joy and peace and not hold grudges or hate because that divides the body.

This is what Paul is teaching in Col. 3:12-17

Colossians 3:12–17 ESV

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

There are two main things he is telling us in this section.

The first is to...

Be Sure to Clothe Yourself Properly

As I said before Put on means to dress yourself in this way.

We are to clothe ourselves with the proper clothing before we do anything.

Much like when we go into freezing temperatures we put on clothing that covers are whole bodies. We not only put on long pants and long shirts we put on heavy coats and gloves and possibly many other warm clothing.

We do this to protect ourselves from the freezing temperatures.

That is what Paul is saying here, put on the right clothes, cloak yourself with these attributes, and be protected from the wiles of the world.

As the text tells us in verses 8 and 12, we have the choice of what clothes we can clothe ourselves with.

In 8 we see we can wear anger, malice, slander, obscene talk, which includes gossip, and lies; or we can wear compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love.

Which type of clothing do you want to wear?

The first set leads to pain, suffering, misery, bitterness, hate, and death.

While the second set leads to joy, peace, happiness, and life.

But as we studied in the first message in this series, we must let love be our rule.

When we do that we will stop operating on feelings and pride and let love guide us.

Now, many people see some of these virtues listed here as weakness, especially meekness.

We have seen movies and people who were portrayed as meek who were weak and cowardly.

Even the dictionary wants to define meekness as submissive and deficient in courage and spirit.

Well, this definition is far from what meekness is.

Meekness is power under control.

Look at Matt. 11:29

Matthew 11:29 ESV

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

The word gentle here is the same Greek word used here in Colossians for meek.

Does anyone think Jesus was weak and deficient in courage? I hope not because He was far from both.

He was submissive to the Father’s will but He was not a weak and cowardly man.

He was full of courage and power but that power was under control.

Think like this. A horse can be gentle and submissive to you but that does not mean the horse does not have any power.

No, that horse has immense power and could cause us some intense grief if they exerted it at the right time.

But that horse is power under control which means he is meek, but meek does not equal weak it means we willingly lay aside attacking because we are under control.

We accomplish this through not being prideful and being patient with others because others make mistakes. We realize that we are no different it just is not us this time in the hot seat of mistakes or troubles.

Which is why we bear with one another and forgive each other just as Christ forgave us.

We receive forgiveness from Christ freely. He died for us while we were still His enemies.

Christ has shown us how to live and be together. We can live this out if we will allow His life to guide us.

In the past, when people had a grievance, they could challenge one another to a duel. That settled it, except when relatives of the loser decided to carry on the feud, sometimes for generations. Each crime against one side would escalate the motives for revenge.

Now with duels illegal, we use courts to “make ourselves whole” when someone has cheated or slandered us. It is a longer process, less bloody, more public, and civilized.

Jesus offers an even better way: forgive and forget. It’s the new way of the gospel: let God worry about the wrongs you’ve suffered. Don’t quench your life in bitter feuding; live renewed in love and joy. (Barton and Comfort, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, LABC, 216).

Once we have clothed ourselves with love that we receive from Christ we can do just that. We can forgive and forget and move on without a grudge.

Grudges only hurt you and people close to you because you live in a prison of bitterness and hate. Let love lead you over bitterness.

Love brings harmony and unity while unforgiveness only brings division.

I used to say that forgiveness meant we forgave the person and did not hold any grudge anymore, but we did not have to have relationship with them anymore, but I have given this some more thought.

If we will not allow some form of relationship with the one we have forgiven, have we truly forgave?

Forgiveness with genuine love brings unity and harmony which entails restoration.

This brings peace and comfort for the body of believers because then we are working together as we should as one body.

But as Paul goes on to tell us...

What You Let Dwell in You Guides You

Verse 15 says that the peace of Christ is to dwell in our hearts.

His peace is to rule from inside us.

He is to rule in our hearts.

This means we are to surrender to Him completely if we are to have Him dwell within as we should.

His peace will dwell in us and shoot forth from us if we allow Him to rule in us like this.

He is our Lord and we need to bow to Him as our Lord. When we do this we let Him rule every part of our lives.

We do not try and live for ourselves because when we try and live for ourselves, we usually bring chaos over peace.

When we let Him rule in our hearts we will come together with other believers, even those we think have wronged us or who have wronged us, and be together with thankfulness.

Why? Because Jesus is our Savior and He has saved us and made us one together.

We create chaos with our bitterness and anger. Malice and hateful talk and slander come from a heart that is not ruled by the peace of Christ.

We allow His peace to rule in us when we let His word dwell richly in us as we see in verse 16.

This word richly means in abundance, to an overflow.

When we are so filled with the word of Christ we will live out that word.

God’s word must be buried in us. It must ooze from us when we bleed, sweat, and talk. It should be our guide and wisdom.

But we also let His word dwell richly in us through communal teaching and admonishing.

When we come together we are to love one another enough to help one another grow in the word and help one another to move away from bad habits, which entails admonishing.

But we also build one another up with praises to God and being thankful.

When Christ dwells richly in us through His peace and His word, we will begin to do everything in His name.

What that means is that when we go to do something, we will think about it and check it to make sure it glorifies Christ.

Spreading rumors and half-truths about fellow Christians does not honor God, nor does anger, and bitterness toward another believer glorify Christ.

When we are wronged we go to the one who wronged us and correct the situation.

If we are all living in this way Paul describes here, we will settle all accounts before the end of the day and it will end that day not to go on anymore.

When Christ forgave us our sins He completely cleansed us.

Many say we are like a white board with many marks on it and when we were saved by Christ He purged that board and made it like new.

Well, I believe it is more like He trashed that board and put a brand new board there because we are not a renewed creature but a new creature. We are not the old person anymore but a new person.

We do not act like the old person anymore but we act like the new person because we are in Christ and He is in us and we do everything in His name.

Application

We can live compassionately by the

Grace of Christ:

We are saved by grace and we live by grace. Christ did all the work at the cross and it is He working in us that will make it possible for us to live compassionately with other believers.

When we look at the amazing love of Christ for us through the grace He extended to us in saving us, we can put on these clothes of virtuous characteristics and act them out.

We can do this because it is Christ working in and through us. He is moving and working if we will just get ourselves out of His way.

Peace of Christ:

Once we rest in the grace of Christ we can rest in the peace of Christ. This means we rest in Him when insulted: so was He and He took it for us and them.

When belittled: so was Christ He took it for them and us.

When lied about, when gossiped about, when slandered.

Christ received all of that and much more for that person doing that and for you. When we rest in the peace Christ gives us knowing He loved us so much He died for us, we can take all the abuse.

Like Paul said in 2 Cor. 12:10 “10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

We can be strong when we rest in the peace of Christ because when we rest in Him we have nothing or no one to fear because we have the Lion of the tribe of Judah for us.

And as C.S. Lewis described Aslan his Christlike character in the Chronicles of Narnia,

“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

That is the lion we have with us and because He is for us, we can have His peace ruling in us because if He is for us, who, what, can be against us?

Nothing is the answer to that, so rest in His peace and have joy and forgiveness and compassion for others.

Word of Christ:

Instill His word deep inside you.

Memorize Scripture so when you are insulted or attacked you can remain calm and compassionate. This is how we become meek rather than explosive.

When we allow His word to fill us we will always have the right thoughts in situations because our minds are filled with His word.

Read and study His word diligently because it will strengthen you more than anything else you can do.

Read good works by good Christians but read the Word of God more because His word is where the power is at.

Name of Christ:

Once we have applied the three previous applications this one will come easier.

Always think about what it is you are doing.

If it aligns with something Christ would do, it is in His name, but if it is more carnal, flesh driven (i.e., gossip, slander, malicious intent, hate driven) it is not in the name of Christ but in the name of the god of this world: Satan.

Love, compassion, kindness, humble living, meekness, and patience with others and with all situations are all things we can do that are in the Name of Christ.

Christian means little Christ so if we call ourselves Christian we are claiming His name.

But if we act contrary to His name we are fouling the name of Christ.

So this application is mostly to say:

STOP

THINK

LISTEN

THINK

PRAY

Then we can act because we are seeking Christ in the situation and He should guide us if we have rested in His grace, peace, and have His word dwelling richly (abundantly) in us.

When we do this, we will start having unity, forgiveness, and harmony in the body of Christ rather than division, hate, and bitterness.

Conclusion

This story sums up how we live compassionately with each other.

Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes (Forgiveness)

John D. Rockefeller built the great Standard Oil empire. Not surprisingly, Rockefeller was a man who demanded high performance from his company executives. One day, one of those executives made a two million dollar mistake.

Word of the man’s enormous error quickly spread throughout the executive offices, and the other men began to make themselves scarce. Afraid of Rockefeller’s reaction, they didn’t even want to cross his path.

One man didn’t have any choice, however, since he had an appointment with the boss. So he straightened his shoulders and tightened his belt and walked into Rockefeller’s office.

As he approached the oil monarch’s desk, Rockefeller looked up from the piece of paper on which he was writing.

“I guess you’ve heard about the two million dollar mistake our friend made,” he said abruptly.

“Yes,” the executive said, expecting Rockefeller to explode.

“Well, I’ve been sitting here listing all of our friend’s good qualities on this sheet of paper, and I’ve discovered that in the past he has made us many more times the amount he lost for us today by his one mistake. His good points far outweigh this one human error. So I think we ought to forgive him, don’t you?”

When we have the peace of Christ dwelling in us because of His amazing grace and filling of His word, we too can be even more forgiving than Rockefeller because we do not need to look back at the good the person has done.

No, we just look at the good Jesus has done and forgive from that and go on living life in peace.