Putting on Love
Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must [forgive]. Above all, [put on] love-the perfect bond of unity.” — Colossians 3:12-14
Earlier in the day my husband called my phone as I was driving with our many children in the car. We usually text each other, so I was slightly taken back with what this call was about. I placed him on speaker phone and all the kids chimed in. He asked for me to call him back later so we could talk privately and finally in the afternoon I got a chance to call him back. I imagined the news would be about a possible delayed flight home. I was still sighing as he answered hello, resigning myself to the bedtime blues and anarchy to come. He did in fact have sad news to tell me, but it wasn’t a delay in flight.
An older gentleman who has served the church community in pastoral care tirelessly for years, passed away.
This man never preached a sermon in the twenty-five years I’d been at church. But his whole life was a preached sermon. He didn’t have Instagram or Facebook followers, and yet everyone knew who he was. He would stand by the open church doors on a Sunday and greet us all coming in. He remembered names and faces, and situations. Yet he was a locked vault for gossip.
An old friend came into my workplace and the first thing she said was “Can you believe our pastor has passed away?” She then went on to say he was the reason she was a chaplain now.
This man has impacted generations of Christians through kind acts alone. Through his prayers for our lives and for his faith in God who can do all things. His acts of love are everlasting.
He once got me into a church event without a ticket as a young girl who had just lost her ticket and fell into tears. Over twenty years ago, while at Bible college, I did a pastoral care department internship. His impact remains etched in my heart. He would whistle as we left rooms and would take the fire stairs instead of the lift. He kindly explained how to leave the troubles at the door and how not to take them home. Many people say how he always appeared at the hospital at just the right time.
Once I was engaged, he did our pre-marriage counselling. He prayed over my now husband of sixteen years and I, and spoke words of encouragement and faith.
When we lost our baby, he was the pastor who hugged me and gave me words of compassion and kindness. To me he was the pastor who always saw me.
Which gets me to my topic today which I will call “putting on love.”
The idea is that we put on kindness, meekness and patience and compassion. It suggests that it is a daily choice. We need to decide our behavior. In the car, with the kids, our spouse, our workmates. Will we prefer another over ourselves? We often take these qualities for granted. But I can see now that my pastor friend in fact purely lived his life out of this verse. His everyday tasks were what I was impacted by.
He wasn’t trying to fill stadiums or be an influencer. He didn’t have the latest car or the fanciest clothes. Yet I know his funeral will be as full as a stadium and he will be remembered all over the world, as his influence has gone far and wide. I know he focused on what matters and that he is now heaven-bound.
Three things I learned from this verse and the example of this man.
1) These qualities are usually unseen:
By their very nature it’s not about self accolades. Love is an action not a feeling. I don’t love people into the kingdom of heaven with good intentions. Instead I express love through my actions. The unseen blessing of another. A word of encouragement, sincere prayer when no one is watching.
2) Stay in your lane:
Whatever sphere of life you find yourself in. it’s not about your profession, your career or life choices. The key is to stay in your lane and not compare yourself. We look for moments in our days that we can outwork our gifts and talents. Ultimately, we are working for God and him being glorified. Our good works come out of a heat to highlight the goodness of God.
Putting on love means we work out of God’s spirit and what he would have as do. For His glory.
3) Keep doing good:
Do not give up on doing good. If one day you feel you failed, get up tomorrow and start again. If you sin, lose your temper, meltdown then tomorrow try again. Don’t give up on doing good.
Don’t give up on putting on love. Even if someone rejects you. You don’t know who or how you may or may not impact a person. I do not doubt that my pastor friend who passed away has entered heaven with the words, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
My prayer is that we who are Christians would live as Christins. Our standard would be kindness, compassion, patience and love.
Our everyday life would be outworked by genuinely loving the people in our spheres of influence.
#love #faithfulness #runyourrace #colossians3:12 #servanthood #selflessness