The Power of Love
/
Colossians 3:12
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;”
When we interact with people, we should exemplify how Christ dealt with people. He never dealt with people harshly except the time when He ran the people out of the temple because they were selling things in the House of God. A part from that, Christ always handled people firmly but with gentleness, compassion, kindness, patience and humility. The Word of God today says to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. These characteristics are all the ways we want to be treated by others, so why not do the same. We need to watch how we talk to people when they have stepped out of line. If you come at them harshly, they will not hear you because anger and/or fear will take over and block out everything you are saying. So it is best to take the Christ approach and that is to be firm and get your point across but do it with compassion and patience. Are you perfect? No, so you need think about how God dealt with you and guided you back to the right path with Him. When you are rebuking someone, you should always think about how to lead them back to the path of righteousness. You should always think about how you can lead them to the truth. I’ve learned over the years that if I want to correct someone, I find a scripture that speaks into their life. Sometimes if I know that person is a believer, I will speak it straight out but if I don’t know their level of faith, I say the scripture but in terms I know they can understand. If you have never tried using the Word of God to make a point to someone that is not church related , try it sometimes because God’s words lead us to being patient with people. God’s word leads to compassion. God’s word leads to gentleness and kindness toward that person. We as believers are to strive to be more like Christ everyday and it doesn’t just mean at church. We should live our lives walking in His righteousness everyday. I guarantee even though we mess up and disrespect God on many occasions, He has not tried to beat us over the head with fear and anger. The way He deals with us shows us His love for us is genuine. The word of God says, “Ephesians 4:2: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." 1 Peter 4:8: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." John 15:12: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” So let’s do things God’s way, then we will leave people whom we have rebuked or chastised with their dignity because we’ve handled them firmly but with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Be blessed
