Colossians 3:12 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. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
When people talk about living a “good life,” I suppose they may have differing views about exactly what a ‘good life’ might entail.
But Paul has no doubt about the subject, and he tells one and all how ‘the good life’ may be attained.
Do people really want a good life? If so, beyond question, here is how it may be had: Allow the love of Christ to flow through you.
This sounds really simple, and it is, but we sometimes struggle with implementation. One of the simplest descriptions I have heard of this life is, “to do the best you can.”
Oh, well now we’re back at what our parents used to tell us. “Try hard. Do your best. That’s all I ask.”
But that’s not it. It really has nothing to do with what you do or what you say. It is total dependency on something far greater. To be at our best we need to be at our least, to allow Christ to be at His most.
To be tenderly merciful is not possible in every case, unless you are in Christ – because He is ALWAYS tenderly merciful. When you are NOT tenderly merciful, you are not at your best. You see it, and so do others. Something is lacking – and that something is the mercy of Christ.
While I (me, myself, and I) may not like being that merciful, I am certainly glad He was that merciful to me. And tenderly so. Apart from that I probably wouldn’t be here, and I certainly wouldn’t be a pastor. Jesus says, in effect, “Pass it on.” To be a Christian who truly reflects Christ, I must be about the business of doing the very best thing I can do for a person in a given situation. This is the definition of Christian love. Christian love is not a feeling, it is action. Try putting that on. You can’t have a better life than that.
- Pastor Bill
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