VIRTUES AS CLOTHING ~ Precious Victor Akah
While having my personal Bible study, I came across this passage of the Scripture. I have read it before, but this time around, I got a new perspective to the Scripture and so I thought of sharing it with you my readers. The Bible passage is Colossians 3:12-14.
It reads: "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." New International Version
"Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony." New Living Translation
Most people feel on top of the world when they're fashionably dressed in branded designer clothes, luxurious jewelries, expensive bags and shoes, looking elegant and modish. However, from the Bible (the passage we just read), there are more high priced garments (precious virtues) that should make you feel more exuberant and euphoric because you're beautifully and gloriously robed in them, and if you're not clothed with these priceless garments, no matter how expensive you dress, how luxurious you look, how classy and elegant your physical appearance is, how attractive and irresistible you appear, or how modest, and decent you look before men, before God, you're slovenly and poorly dressed and God is not impressed one bit.
Let's quickly look at these high-priced garments as expressly stated in Colossians 3:12-14:
• The first garment is COMPASSION. Being compassionate is being sensitive to the needs of people. Are you a compassionate Christian? Do you help people out of compassion? Jesus was compassionate (read Matthew 14:14, Mark 1:41, Mark 6:34, Matthew 15:32, Matthew 20:34). It was compassion that moved Jesus to do all the good works (miracles, healing, teaching, deliverance, feeding the people...) He did while on earth. It is time to put on the garment of compassion if you've not been wearing it.
• The second garment is KINDNESS. How kind a person are you? Being kind is being helpful, supportive, considerate, friendly, generous and caring. Are you a kind Christian?
• The third is HUMILITY. Can people ask you for help and you don't feel it is beneath you to help them? When your subordinate or junior corrects you, how do you feel? Are you humble before God?
• The fourth is GENTLENESS. Are you known in your neighborhood, local assembly (church), or at your work place to be a violent person or a gentle person? Are you gentle with people when talking to them, asking them for help, giving them instructions, asking questions, requesting for something, or offering a service to people?
• The fifth is PATIENCE. Are you patient with your staffs, your colleagues at work, your spouse, your children, your friends and loved ones? Or do you out of impatience hurl abuses and curses on people, engage in physical fight and quarrel with people when you feel you have been treated unfairly, insulted or taken advantage of? Do you patiently ask question before taking action or you hurriedly make assumptions and jump into conclusion and take action out of impatience? Are you even patient with God to receive answers to your age-long prayers or you are already exploring alternatives out of impatience?
• Sixth is TOLERANCE (FORBEARANCE). Can you tolerate certain things for peace to reign? When you feel insulted or cheated on, can you let go, to honor Christ? Or must you fight, quarrel and keep malice until you regain what was taken from you (no matter how little the thing is)? Do you seek and plan revenge when someone hurts you knowingly or unknowingly, or do you let go and let God? Can you give up your right or privilege to do what is right or to help someone in dire need? Or do you always insist on having your right even at the cost of someone's life or valuables?
• Seventh is FORGIVENESS. Do you forgive people when they hurt, offend, abuse, insult, curse, or mock you? Or do you plan a revenge or take immediate cruel action against them? Do you forgive your spouse or children when they wrong you? Or you keep malice with them and stay angry with them for days, weeks, months and even years? When someone wrongs you and apologies or asks for forgiveness, do you easily forgive them or do you withhold forgiveness from them to pay them back for the wrong they did to you? The Scripture we read says, "Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."
• Eight is LOVE. Scripture says, love binds them all together in perfect unity. So without love, you haven't even started. Love brings completion and perfection. If you must be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient, tolerant and forgiving, you must possess a heart of love. Love actually makes having and expressing all these virtues possible. Jesus first loved all humans, that made it easy for Him to exhibit all the other virtues. Choose to love everyone, regardless of race, skin color, gender, tribe, language, ethnic group, background, financial status, social status etc, and manifesting all these other virtues will come easily. Because, whoever you hate, you will find it very hard and impossible to be compassionate to, kind to, humble yourself before, gentle to, patient with, tolerant of, and even forgive. Give expression to the love of God you already have in your heart as a child of God, "...God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:5
These are the eight high-priced garments (precious virtues) every child of God should be clothed with. It is more important than being clothed with designer clothes and shoes. It is what moves God. It is what impresses God. In as much as you shouldn't dress shabbily and poorly, you should also not focus all of your attention on buying and wearing expensive wears to impress people. If you really want to impress God and also impress people, put on these eight high-priced garments. It gives color to your physical appearance and personality.
May we all receive grace to clothe ourselves with these precious garments, in Jesus' Name.
Remain blessed.
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