TUESDAY January 7, 2025

Our New Christian Nature

...humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Colossians 3:12-13

In his letter, Paul got his point across to the Colossians. He gave a list of behaviors to put off. That was how they used to be, but the next list he delivered to them was how they are to be now. A Christian’s new nature exhibited humility and meekness. What is true humility? It is having a humble opinion of oneself––a lowliness of mind. The word meekness means “gentleness or mildness.” Jesus is powerful, but in His earthly ministry, He showed meekness. He was, at times, as gentle as a lamb.

It is difficult to be meek and gentle; instead, we can be heartless and harsh with people. Perhaps you have an annoying neighbor––they really do not like you. Why not show them the goodness of the Lord? Find ways to be loving, compassionate, kind and forgiving. God will bless you for it. Sooner or later, they will be overwhelmed by your Christian love, and one day, you may see them break down and ask you for help when they are in a time of trouble. Seriously, they will naturally seek you out, because they remember just how kind you were to them.

In this wicked world, you will come across people who are selfish, uncaring, mean and hateful. You may have been harmed by them or experienced animosity from them. Remember, they do not know Christ. You do! As a child of God, ask your Father in heaven to help you to be kind, compassionate, humble, merciful, longsuffering and forgiving. This is one of the hardest things for us to do––to forgive someone who has hurt us. This is when we need to look to Jesus to learn how to forgive. Jesus, while hanging in agony, crucified by sinners, said on the Cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Pray to have the virtues of Christ. If we could act this way 365 times a year, can you imagine the difference we could make in this world?

The only way the kingdom of God is going to be manifest in this world before Christ comes is if we manifest it by the way we live as citizens of heaven and subjects of the King.
~R.C. Sproul~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!