colossians

I recently finished a girl's bible study on the book of colossians. I adore the woman that has been leading the bible study, God uses her to teach me things that make me smile because it's something I so needed to hear THAT day. The last night was over colossians 3 and 4 which is a lot of goodness, but the beginning says we must set our hearts on things above, and put to death the things that we used to hold close- 'sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed'. When you put it that way, I want to put to death those things too! They sound pretty yucky but obviously can have quite the appeal or else I wouldn't be needing to put anything to death. He goes on to list some more things- 'anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language'.

The one that got me most was slander. Making a damaging/ malicious statement against someone. I love ephesians 4:29 which says "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." But do I do this? Nope! I should only be speaking of others in a way that builds them up, choosing NOT to say anything that will hurt their reputation. Whether that's a mean resident/attending in the hospital or a friend that has hurt my feelings or a complete stranger that may have done something that I could make fun of... we've all heard it best said- if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all! One point that really got me, who are the people in my life that I should only talk to God about? I have a great Christian girlfriend and I find myself talking to her about things or people I have struggles with, and I use the excuse that I am looking for advice when deep down I'm just wanting to vent. I got to learn my lesson with this just a few days after the bible study. And it ended in someone getting their feelings hurt and me feeling just awful about it. When if I would have remembered ephesians 4:29 and remembered that I should only go to God when I have frustrations with another person, I would have not hurt a really great friend. I should never make someone pay for the sins they committed against me. Whether that be me going and talking to someone else about them, or refusing to forgive them, or giving them the cold shoulder, etc... I must remember that God never made me pay for the sins I committed, instead he paid them for me.

Another point made was there are 2 ways to live the Christian life. One is defeated- giving in to a certain sin because you believe it is just too hard to give up. And second is victorious- knowing at every decision point he can enable us not to sin! How great is that? Not that we won't sin, because we sure still do. But we do have the power deep within, Christ's power, to say no to the temptation. We're still human so the flesh will always be trying to drag us in the opposite direction. I can think of many times in the past week where I've been at the decision point to not say something hurtful to someone's character. Just at dinner tonight I can think of several instances! I have the voice saying in my head, ehhhh you could probably just keep this one to yourself! Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't. I need the strength in those moments to depend on the Holy Spirit to empower me not to take the bait and sin.

vs 12-14

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with

compassion (deep awareness of other's needs),

kindness (actively caring for others, not looking for us to be cared for),

humility (knowing we're in the same spot as everyone else, I am no better than them),

gentleness and patience (not expecting others to be sanctified at the speed I think they should be).

¹³Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.