Tender mercies

Tender mercies

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, 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

Today’s verse answers the question about how we learn to overcome the fleshly divisions we read about yesterday. This passage almost feels impossible because it is so rare from my own experience. I see so much, including in my own life, that is the opposite of what Paul writes about.

I heard a lot about how Christians need to be hard and tough and militant and all that kind of thing. Of course, those are Biblical concepts. They are attributes we need to have as we endure hardness as good soldiers. When dealing with false teachers and opposition to the truth we need to take a tough stand.

But far too often I have seen these hard attitudes taken against Christians over petty stuff. Tender mercies don’t seem to far up on the priority list.

Kindness

Humility

Meekness

Long suffering

Putting up with each other

Forgiveness

All of these are the things that should mark out the believer. They are not the world’s normal traits so they do make a difference.

Since we are all one in Christ and since he has forgiven us and shown us tender mercies should we not do the same for each other? Are these the marks of our lives?