Quiet Earth Fellowservants of Christ

Here we read an exhortation from the LORD through the pen of Paul to express mutual love and compassion to our beloved brothers & sisters in Christ.

Note the eight characteristics mentioned here are indicative of a true child of God: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing one another, forgiving one another and love.

Now dear reader, of these eight which one is lacking most in your Christian walk?

I chose patience. Let's take a little time this week to focus on which of these areas we need to build upon and apply it to our lives and the brotherhood because this is very important:

"A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle." (Proverbs 18:19).

How true this proverb is, but as Christians, should this really be so? Note the parable Jesus told about forgiveness:

"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." (Matthew 18:21-35).

Now if we are obedient to God's word we will by God's grace be able to forgive others in Christ. If we can do this by grace, we must, although even harder to do, not only forgive those in the LORD but also our enemies and those whom we percieved have done us injustice as well:

"But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." (Luke 6:35,36).

This is the very nature of compassion and mercy, to be able to rise above oppression and injuctice.

As we look closer at these verses in Colossians, notice how all these characteristics seem to go together or build upon each other in sort of a "domino" effect. They all link together. Although some of the links in our own personal lives may be a bit weaker than others, this gives us the opportunity to strive to strengthen the weaker ones.

So we see forgiveness and compassion are linked to kindness. What exactly does kindness mean here? According to Strong's Lexicon, it is defined as "moral goodness, integrity". So this definition goes far beyond simply saying hello to a stranger for example although little things such as this are a small part of the overall picture of kindness.

When we look at God's Word we also see that kindness is associated with humilty and gentleness. Humility and gentleness are synonyms and the Greek word here "prautes" can be and is translated both ways in the Bible. Perhaps it is possible for an unbeliever to be kind yet not humble, but a Christian need be both; this is the very fragrance of Christ:

"Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:1a).

The true child of God will be filled with humility. Of course humility very closely fits with "forebearing one another". Now we must be careful here. This word "forebearing" does not mean "bearing with those we do not enjoy being with"; it has a different and very great and deep meaning; it comes from "ajnevcw" and means "to hold up, to hold one's self erect and firm to sustain, to bear, to endure". Having undergone some pretty heavy trials recently, this is one I can relate to and personally testify to its importance.

As Christians, we will very often experience alot of suffering; these trials at times are intense. The world cares little for a suffering servant of Christ, but what a wonderful blessing it is when a believer has a fellow saints shoulder to cry on or to recieve a friendly visit, phone call, e-mail or card. As children of our LORD, we are all part of the one universal, eternal church that is the body of Christ and that's alot of comfort. Likewise, in Ephesians 4 we read:

"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:1-3).

Forebearing often involves alot of patience. Patience is the area I'm going to personally try to work on a little more. This attribute is also extremely important because it goes hand in hand with the last virtue mentioned here, namely love. In that great chapter 1 Corinthians 13 we read:

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

The LORD tells us that love is the greatest gift and attribute of a true child of Christ:

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." (1 Corinthians 13:13).

"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:9-13).

Note that in our weekly text in Colossians, the exhortation is to put love "above" all the previous mentioned qualities. No doubt it would be almost impossible to do any of the other things without love. This is the "agape" type love, not meaning the physical attraction type, rather brotherly love, good will, affection and benevolence.

Beloved, give thanks to the LORD this and every day for His wonderful salvation!

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (1 John 4:7,8).

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