Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; (13) 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. (14) But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. (15) And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were also called in one body; and be thankful. (16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (17) And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

The letter to the Colossians was written by the apostle Paul – our verses today address practical holiness of the faithful. Life without God is futile and meaningless but as believers our position in Christ is safe and secure. We are to behave as we believe and we must consider our reborn selves – Paul uses the analogy of putting on new clothes as putting on new behaviors. We are judged – rightly or wrongly – by appearance and here paul is teaching us how to be judged by behaviors that characterize the new man/woman in Christ. We need hearts that are readily stirred to compassion; that delight in mercy. We must put pride aside and think less of self; to trust in God and seek to do His will. We must be long suffering; God will vindicate His own. We are to forgive those who harmed us; forgiven people should be the first to forgive. And love of God and others is to be our guiding principle. We love because we have been loved by Christ.

Righteousness is not found in natural man. It cannot be earned or worked for. It is the gift of God to all who place their faith in Christ for salvation. It is Christ’s righteousness that God accepts. God chose us as believers out of a mass of rebellious humanity who did not want or care for Him – we have been set aside by God in Christ and our hearts and minds should no longer be engaged in this world. We know the peace of Christ and should live to preserve it. ‘Where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also.’

I return again to the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous to underline that spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it. “Without help it is too much for us but there is One who has all power – that one is God.” The promises of AA tell us that half measures availed us nothing. If recovering men/women practice the spiritual principles of AA, “We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook on life will change. Fear of people and of economic security will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.” May you find God now.