Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 

¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

New Clothes

Zechariah 3:3-4

³ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. ⁴ The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”

Zechariah 3:6,7&9

The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts,........I am going to bring my servant, the Branch….. ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day……

“Therefore, as (1) God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, (2) clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

The Clothing of Christlike Character

• Compassion
• Kindness
• Humility
• Gentleness
• Patience
• These aren’t personality traits—they’re garments to put on daily.

Community Builders

Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Bear with > Bail Out

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. v.15

Tuning Fork

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. -Colossians 3:15 (MSG)

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.” —A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine