Chosen and Loved

September 21

Isaiah 34-36

Psalm 106:1-5

Proverbs 23:12-14

Colossians 3:1-17

Chosen and Loved

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:12-15

Colossians 3 starts out with a long list of the things that were part of our lives before we met Christ: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, idolatry, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying. Paul tells us that we have taken off our old selves with its practices and have put on a new self that is being renewed by Christ. Paul knows that when we get rid of our old practices, we need to replace the void that is left behind, so he gives us a list of things to fill our hearts and minds. He encourages us to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and gratitude. He tells us that we are chosen. The Creator and Lord of the Universe chose us to be His children. We are holy not because of our own righteousness, but because we are covered by the righteousness of Christ. And we are dearly loved. That is not some blanket statement that God loves everyone and all of humanity. It is personal and individual. He loves me! And He loves you! He knows us each individually and personally and He loves us each dearly. I don’t know about you, but that brings tears to my eyes. It is very humbling. He knows everything about me: the good, the bad and the ugly and He loves me dearly. He has forgiven all the stuff in my life that I don’t even want anyone to know about. I can’t hide it from Him. He has seen all the bad stuff I’ve done and even the stuff I’ve thought about and wanted to do. He knows how selfish I am down deep and yet He sacrificed Himself to save me.

When I recognize the depth of my own depravity, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of appreciation for what He has done for me. This recognition enables me to see those around me differently. Instead of being annoyed by their neediness or irritated by their behaviors, I can look past their actions and see a hurting person who needs the love of Jesus as much as I do. The only way that I can exhibit kindness, gentleness and patience with people who do not treat me that way is by allowing the Holy Spirit who is living in me to love them through me. I can forgive much because I have been forgiven much. I can put on love and live at peace with others because I am loved, and I am at peace with God. Sometimes we all need a change of perspective. Instead of looking at the world from the lens of my personal rights and what I think I deserve, we need to be reminded that what we really deserve is death and hell, but we have been mercifully spared that by our Savior who loves us. How can we not then extend that love and mercy to others?