Wednesday February 4, 2009 BE LOVING
As holy people whom God has chosen and loved, be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Put up with each other, and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Above all, be loving. This ties everything together perfectly. Also, let Christ's peace control you. God has called you into this peace by bringing you into one body. Be thankful. Colossians 3:12-15 I don't know about you, but I have a hard time thinking of myself as "holy." Yet, reading Paul's description of holy here makes it a little easier. From time to time I have been known to display these attributes, although my family members may think it is rare. Isaiah 61:10 says, "I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels!" (NLT) When I read both of these scriptures this morning it took me awhile to notice the contrast. The scripture in Isaiah implies that God has dressed us with salvation and righteousness, but we are to clothe ourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, love, and thankfulness. So, God covers us with what makes us His, and we are to develop these other characteristics; which reminds me of one of my favorite sayings: What we are is God's gift to us; what we become is our gift to God. For the past six months God has been teaching me the importance of showing grace and mercy to others in the same way He has shown them to me. Amazingly, with the majority of people, this works. People respond better to mercy than they do to condemnation. Grace and mercy calm a person's heart and makes them more receptive to being still enough for God to dress them with salvation. When my little 16 year-old grandson was 5, he came over one day and announced to us that he had a song to sing for us. He was precious as he sang these words (I hope I get them right): 1-2-3 Jesus loves me; 1-2 Jesus loves you. 3 and 4 He loves me more; more than I've ever been loved before. 5-6-7 I'll go to heaven. 8 and 9 Jesus is mine. Then comes 10, and the song's too long to sing again, but 1-2-3 Jesus loves me; 1-2 Jesus loves you! So true. Jesus does love you, and He wants you to sing His songs with a childlike heart glowing with joy and peace! May His peace strengthen you with hope today. ******************************************* O. Addison Gethers e-mail address : [email protected] or [email protected] window live messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/DBILG?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
