I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
Cultivate what matters most
Imagine putting on shirts of compassion, patience and forgiveness. That might seem ridiculous, but Colossians 3:12 tells us to “clothe ourselves” in traits that match our identity in Christ. In other words, we need to cover ourselves in actions and attitudes that result in us looking more like Jesus every day.
So, how do we do this? One way to get started is by thinking of the struggles that keep you from living more like Jesus, and then start to replace them with their opposite action.
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If you are sarcastic and cutting, choose to say something kind instead.
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If you tend to come across as harsh, choose to do something that requires gentleness.
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If you’re holding a grudge, choose to extend forgiveness.
As you go about doing that, choose to take part in activities that build you up spiritually. This could look like connecting with friends who will keep you accountable, memorizing Scripture that you can apply to your life, or cultivating compassion by serving in your community. The more you intentionally pursue actions that lead to humility, compassion, and kindness, the more those traits will become a natural part of your life.
And as you pursue the qualities mentioned in Colossians 3:12, the changes this produces will be most evident in the way you treat other people. The apostle John said that we can’t claim to love Jesus if we hate each other (1 John 4:20), so a life that reflects Jesus is going to embody love. And according to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, love is “patient and kind. … It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. … Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
A life marked by God’s love is going to display the very things the apostle Paul talks about in Colossians 3:12.
So if we want to live like Jesus, then we need to receive the new life He’s given to us and accept His unconditional love. Only then can we begin to reflect His love to others by showing people compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
So today, what do you need to do in order to clothe yourself in those character traits? Note one or two struggles that tend to trip you up, and make a plan to remove them from your life by replacing them with actions that draws you closer to Jesus.
Luke 10
“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into ...
God Is With You
The prophet Isaiah wrote the words of Isaiah 7:14 nearly 600 years before Jesus was born. At the time of this writing, the Israelites were doing all the right religious things, but weren’t practicing justice as God commands. Like many prophets during Isaiah’s time, this was a warning against that injustice. But among that warning was a glimmer of hope that God would set things right.
Here, the prophet Isaiah is giving the people of Israel a reason to hope because of God’s good promise—the promise that He will provide a sign and He will show up for us. Because that’s what Immanuel means: God with us.
But what does “God with us” mean for us today?
It means we can share in that hope by fixing our eyes on Jesus and trusting in Him. We can trust that from Christ’s birth to His current reign in Heaven—Jesus is God with us.
He’s with us in our pain when we lose a loved one.
He’s with us in our anger when we see injustice and don’t know where to turn.
He’s with us ...
