Put On New Life Traits
Colossians 3:12-17
Message #10
In our last message, we began the famous “Put Off/Put On” theology of life transformation. We talked about putting to death – with lethal determination – our flesh nature that Jesus Christ has given us victory over. Today we get to the “Put On” side of this crucial “Put Off/Put On” life transformation. Through the life of Jesus Christ living in us and the power of his Holy Spirit… we put off (put to death) the traits of our old life, and we put on our New Life Traits.
If you have received Jesus Christ today, you have inherited the “New Life Traits” IN Christ! Through his life in us, we have positionally inherited his New Life Traits.
But the fact that we have inherited the New Life Traits of Jesus Christ does not automatically mean we are living in those New Life Traits, does it? For example, if you inherited a mansion on an island in the Caribbean, but you refused to leave the life you are living now, you would never live in that mansion on that island. Even though you had inherited it, you would never live in it because you refused to leave the life you are living now.
So, today I want to really focus on the secret to actually living in, to actually putting on our New Life Traits, and it might not be what you think (so please listen carefully).
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
Why did Jesus make “Loving God” and “Loving Others” the single greatest commandment? (Matthew 22:37) And why did Jesus say the entire Law was based on these two commandments?
Because this greatest commandment covers it all
Because this greatest commandment transforms our life
Why? Because it works!
AS we grow in our love for God and our love for others, our lives are transformed BY God, and we begin to actually live in our New Life Traits.
Just one more thing, this text is our Foundation For Leadership here at Calvary Chapel Nuevo. So, if you’re heading into leadership here, or if you are in leadership and you’ve never heard me say that, please pay attention because there will be many real-life tests.
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves . . .
First, how did we get to the word “Since” (“Therefore” in NKJV)? Because these “New Life Traits” are a therefore in the Christian life.
They are not a requirement in order to earn the new life in Christ. They are an outcome; they are an expression of the new life you’ve inherited through your faith in Christ. This is an expression of the life of Jesus Christ living unrestrained in you. And the more that your life is replaced with the life of Christ, then the more this is what it will look like because you will begin to live in the inherited traits that you’ve been given by Christ, which is why the greatest commandment of loving God and loving others covers it all.
Because Jesus Christ lives in you, these are the “New Life Traits” you have inherited.
NOW we must learn to “Put Them On”
NOW we must learn to “Clothe Ourselves” in them
We must learn to walk in them
We must learn to live in them
So, let’s review the fourteen New Life Traits listed here in Colossians Chapter 3.
New Life Trait # 1 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy . . .
“tenderhearted mercy” means “to have a heart of compassion toward others”
It is a genuine care for those who are hurting and broken-hearted.
Matthew 9:36 (NLT)
36 When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them . . .
This is the tenderhearted mercy of Jesus. It is a heart of genuine compassion toward others. How do we grow in this? How do we make this a reality in our lives?
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in tenderhearted mercy.
New Life Trait # 2 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with . . . kindness . . .
This word “kindness” means “a readiness to do good, even when it is undeserved.”
It is an unselfish willingness to do good to others with no personal motive.
Ephesians 4:32 (NLT)
32 . . . be kind to each other, tenderhearted . . .
Be unselfishly willing to do good to others.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in kindness.
New Life Trait # 3 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with . . . humility . . .
“Humility” is “an ‘emptying’ of ‘self’”
It is not thinking lowly of self. It is not thinking of self. It’s a willingness to esteem others higher than yourself.
Philippians 2:3 (NLT)
3 Don’t be selfish . . . Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
Not thinking of self? Now, that takes the full power of God, doesn’t it?
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in humility.
New Life Trait # 4 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with . . . gentleness,
“gentleness” is “the opposite of pride and self-assertation.”
This word implies the strength of self-denial.
Galatians 6:1 (NLT)
1 . . . if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person . . .
Without pride and with “self-denial,” – help that person.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
See, the problem is love. And the answer is love. And the more you love God, the less you’ll love the world. And the more you love people, the less you’ll love yourself.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in gentleness.
New Life Trait # 5 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with . . . patience.
Definition of “patience” “Restraint enabling injury and insult without retaliating”
Are you kidding?? You want me to be injured and insulted without retaliating? That’s impossible, isn’t it? Yes, humanly speaking, it seems impossible.
You can’t do this. There’s not enough try in you.
Matthew 19:26 (NLT)
26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in long-suffering.
These New Life Traits are all the fruit of the Holy Spirit living unrestrained in your life. In ourselves, we are powerless to “clothe ourselves” in these “New Life Traits.”
In ourselves, we are powerless to do this. This isn’t about, “Oh, I’ve got to try harder. I’ve got to try harder!” No, that’s not what Jesus said. Jesus said, love God more. Love others more. And I will send you Another Helper to come alongside of you, and he will teach you. And he will empower you, and he will reveal me to you. He will BE my life IN you. That’s the Holy Spirit.
These “New Life Traits” begin to SHOW
AS we grow in our “Love Relationship” with God and
AS we grow in our “Love Relationship” with others
And none of it can be done without the power of the Holy Spirit living unrestrained in our life.
So many messages are “should” messages, as in “you should this, and you should that, etc.,” and when the religious leaders tried to trip Jesus up, he said, “You should love.” That’s what he said. Not you should do this, and you should do that, etc. Jesus said, you should love because the New Life Traits grow when we grow in our love relationship with God and as we grow in our love relationship with others.
As we love God more and we love others more, the life of Jesus begins to show more in us and through us.
Now, we go to two very specific responses to other believers who absolutely will “offend you.”
New Life Trait # 6 (Colossians 3, verse 13)
Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults . . .
Definition for “making allowance” “persevering, tolerating, putting up with each other’s faults”
AS our New Life Traits begin to show, we will “bear with” or “make allowance” for our fellow believers BY clothing ourselves in the five New Life Traits we’ve seen so far. Mercy, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, and Patience.
Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)
2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to make allowance for each other’s faults.
New Life Trait # 7 (Colossians 3, verse 13)
Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
We must forgive anyone who offends us, and the key words are “must” and “anyone.”
If a Christian is holding unforgiveness in their heart they are in sin, and that sin will separate you from God (Isaiah 59), and it will eat at you like a bleeding ulcer (until you deal with it).
We have twenty-one messages on the topic of “Forgiveness” at wordbymail.com and on the WordByMail Phone app. Go to the WBM website or phone app. Click on “Topic” and go to “Forgiveness,” and there are twenty-one messages there.
If you are stuck in this sin, please start listening to or reading those messages, and as this verse says, remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Jesus got even more “serious” in Matthew 6, verse 15.
Matthew 6:15 (NLT)
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Everything you need to live in our Divine Forgiveness comes from your growing “Love Relationship” with God and your growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE you learn to walk continually in Divine Forgiveness.
And then, in an “all-encompassing” statement, verse 14 gives us the “above all” New Life Trait and tells us what it is for.
New Life Trait # 8 (Colossians 3, verse 14)
Colossians 3:14 (NLT)
14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
This New Life Trait is above them all, and it covers them all.
Having all the other virtues means nothing without a genuine spirit of agape love for one another.
The phrase “binds us all together” refers to the “chains of a prisoner” (prisoners bound together). This same word is also used for the “ligaments” of the body, the ligaments that hold all the “joints” together.
Christ’s love constrains and restricts us (forces us) to love one another fervently, and that is what holds the body together in harmony.
1 John 4:21 (NLT)
21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
Everything you need to Clothe Yourself with LOVE comes from your growing “Love Relationship” with God and your growing “Love Relationship” with others.
And then verse 15 goes with “the love that binds us all together in perfect harmony” (verse 14).
New Life Trait # 9 (Colossians 3, verse 15)
Colossians 3:15 (NLT)
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace . . .
And let the peace that comes from Christ RULE in your heart.
This word for “peace” is used primarily “to describe unity and harmony between two people” or “lack of conflict.” And the cool part is the word “rule” means: “to act as an umpire” or “to make decisions.”
We must let the peace of God RULE our decisions. This doesn’t mean that we’ll always make people happy, and it doesn’t mean we’ll always do what they want us to, but even in difficult circumstances, we can do all we can to maintain “peace in the body” FOR as verse 15 says, as members of one body you are called to live in peace…
Romans 12:18 (NLT)
18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE you learn to let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.
New Life Trait # 10 (Colossians 3, verse 15)
Colossians 3:15 (NLT)
15 . . . And always be thankful.
Being genuinely thankful to God IN all circumstances will radically change our relationship with God and with other people because so many conflicts are rooted in envy, jealousy, and self-interest. And if we will always be thankful to God for what he is doing in our life, it will really help eliminate those sins of self-focus. It’s determined by our relationship with God and our knowledge of God’s grace.
And it is IN your growing “Love Relationship” with God
And it is IN your growing “Love Relationship” with others
That you LEARN to always be thankful.
New Life Trait # 11 (Colossians 3, verse 16)
Colossians 3:16 (NLT)
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives . . .
NKJV 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
“Dwell” means “to let the word of Christ, in all its richness,” live unrestrained in your life. (“Dwell” is also translated “abide” in John Chapter 15.) It means to allow Christ to have the reign of your house, to be your “house manager, to be the manager of your life.” “Dwell unrestrained.”
And we must allow the word of Christ, in all its richness, to live unrestrained in our life because Colossians 3, verse 16 continues with this.
New Life Trait # 12 (Colossians 3, verse 16)
Colossians 3:16 (NLT)
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives . . .
Before we can “teach and counsel” each other with all the wisdom he gives…
We must (first) let the Word of Christ, in all its richness, fill our lives (live unrestrained), THEN we use the wisdom and grace that God gives us to teach and counsel one another.
Listen, here’s the counsel you don’t want. “Well, what I think you should do…” You don’t want to know what I think. I’ve messed up more things than you can even count. Why would you want to know what I think? Nobody should care. You should say, “Hey, what does God think?” What is the message about Christ and all his richness? What does that teach me? What does that counsel me? We think too highly of ourselves. Next time you say to somebody, “Here’s what I think,” just catch yourself and say, “Wait a minute. Maybe we should rephrase that. Let’s see what God thinks.”
We fill ourselves with the Word of Christ, and then it comes out when we counsel people. And then we say things like, “You know, maybe Christ would have you forgive them.” Even if in your heart you’re thinking, no, no, no, don’t forgive them! Retaliate! Out of your mouth will come the Word of Christ because it is dwelling in you richly.
And we allow the Word of Christ to “Fill Our Lives” through our growing “Love Relationship” with God
And we “Teach and Counsel” one another with God’s wisdom through our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
And Colossians 3, verse 16, continues with the following.
New Life Trait # 13 (Colossians 3, verse 16)
Colossians 3:16 (NLT)
16 . . . Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
IF we will allow the Word of Christ to dwell richly in our lives, not only will we be able to teach and counsel each other with its wisdom, BUT it will also cause us to Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts, and I promise you, THAT will change your life – from the inside out.
Psalm 103:1 (NLT)
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
And finally,
New Life Trait # 14 (Colossians 3, verse 17)
Colossians 3:17 (NLT)
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Before you act, react or respond – check yourself. Can you say, “I’m doing this as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ”?
NKJV says, 17 And whatever you do… do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
“In the name of” means “in full accordance with his nature and his character.” It means “acting as HIS representative.” This is the ultimate and final standard to go by. It is the greatest litmus test.
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
And that wraps up the fourteen “New Life Traits” of Colossians Chapter 3.
This text describes a life so radically transformed that we might say, “I will never be able to live like that!” And, you are exactly right! You will not. But listen, these are not things you accomplish. They’re the life of Christ coming out of you as an expression of your growing love relationship with God and your growing love relationship with others.
If you leave here trying to do this in your own nature, you will fail miserably.
These are New Life Traits. They don’t exist in your own nature.
We’ve got to PUT ON
We’ve got to CLOTHE OURSELVES with
We’ve got to LIVE IN our “New Life Traits”
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
Never forget that.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
If you have received Jesus Christ today, you have inherited the “New Life Traits” IN Christ! Through his life in us, we have positionally inherited his New Life Traits.
But the fact that we have inherited the New Life Traits of Jesus Christ does not automatically mean we are living in those New Life Traits, does it? For example, if you inherited a mansion on an island in the Caribbean, but you refused to leave the life you are living now, you would never live in that mansion on that island. Even though you had inherited it, you would never live in it because you refused to leave the life you are living now.
So, today I want to really focus on the secret to actually living in, to actually putting on our New Life Traits, and it might not be what you think (so please listen carefully).
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
Why did Jesus make “Loving God” and “Loving Others” the single greatest commandment? (Matthew 22:37) And why did Jesus say the entire Law was based on these two commandments?
Because this greatest commandment covers it all
Because this greatest commandment transforms our life
Why? Because it works!
AS we grow in our love for God and our love for others, our lives are transformed BY God, and we begin to actually live in our New Life Traits.
Just one more thing, this text is our Foundation For Leadership here at Calvary Chapel Nuevo. So, if you’re heading into leadership here, or if you are in leadership and you’ve never heard me say that, please pay attention because there will be many real-life tests.
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves . . .
First, how did we get to the word “Since” (“Therefore” in NKJV)? Because these “New Life Traits” are a therefore in the Christian life.
They are not a requirement in order to earn the new life in Christ. They are an outcome; they are an expression of the new life you’ve inherited through your faith in Christ. This is an expression of the life of Jesus Christ living unrestrained in you. And the more that your life is replaced with the life of Christ, then the more this is what it will look like because you will begin to live in the inherited traits that you’ve been given by Christ, which is why the greatest commandment of loving God and loving others covers it all.
Because Jesus Christ lives in you, these are the “New Life Traits” you have inherited.
NOW we must learn to “Put Them On”
NOW we must learn to “Clothe Ourselves” in them
We must learn to walk in them
We must learn to live in them
So, let’s review the fourteen New Life Traits listed here in Colossians Chapter 3.
New Life Trait # 1 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy . . .
“tenderhearted mercy” means “to have a heart of compassion toward others”
It is a genuine care for those who are hurting and broken-hearted.
Matthew 9:36 (NLT)
36 When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them . . .
This is the tenderhearted mercy of Jesus. It is a heart of genuine compassion toward others. How do we grow in this? How do we make this a reality in our lives?
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in tenderhearted mercy.
New Life Trait # 2 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with . . . kindness . . .
This word “kindness” means “a readiness to do good, even when it is undeserved.”
It is an unselfish willingness to do good to others with no personal motive.
Ephesians 4:32 (NLT)
32 . . . be kind to each other, tenderhearted . . .
Be unselfishly willing to do good to others.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in kindness.
New Life Trait # 3 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with . . . humility . . .
“Humility” is “an ‘emptying’ of ‘self’”
It is not thinking lowly of self. It is not thinking of self. It’s a willingness to esteem others higher than yourself.
Philippians 2:3 (NLT)
3 Don’t be selfish . . . Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
Not thinking of self? Now, that takes the full power of God, doesn’t it?
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in humility.
New Life Trait # 4 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with . . . gentleness,
“gentleness” is “the opposite of pride and self-assertation.”
This word implies the strength of self-denial.
Galatians 6:1 (NLT)
1 . . . if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person . . .
Without pride and with “self-denial,” – help that person.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
See, the problem is love. And the answer is love. And the more you love God, the less you’ll love the world. And the more you love people, the less you’ll love yourself.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in gentleness.
New Life Trait # 5 (Colossians 3, verse 12)
Colossians 3:12 (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with . . . patience.
Definition of “patience” “Restraint enabling injury and insult without retaliating”
Are you kidding?? You want me to be injured and insulted without retaliating? That’s impossible, isn’t it? Yes, humanly speaking, it seems impossible.
You can’t do this. There’s not enough try in you.
Matthew 19:26 (NLT)
26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to clothe ourselves in long-suffering.
These New Life Traits are all the fruit of the Holy Spirit living unrestrained in your life. In ourselves, we are powerless to “clothe ourselves” in these “New Life Traits.”
In ourselves, we are powerless to do this. This isn’t about, “Oh, I’ve got to try harder. I’ve got to try harder!” No, that’s not what Jesus said. Jesus said, love God more. Love others more. And I will send you Another Helper to come alongside of you, and he will teach you. And he will empower you, and he will reveal me to you. He will BE my life IN you. That’s the Holy Spirit.
These “New Life Traits” begin to SHOW
AS we grow in our “Love Relationship” with God and
AS we grow in our “Love Relationship” with others
And none of it can be done without the power of the Holy Spirit living unrestrained in our life.
So many messages are “should” messages, as in “you should this, and you should that, etc.,” and when the religious leaders tried to trip Jesus up, he said, “You should love.” That’s what he said. Not you should do this, and you should do that, etc. Jesus said, you should love because the New Life Traits grow when we grow in our love relationship with God and as we grow in our love relationship with others.
As we love God more and we love others more, the life of Jesus begins to show more in us and through us.
Now, we go to two very specific responses to other believers who absolutely will “offend you.”
New Life Trait # 6 (Colossians 3, verse 13)
Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults . . .
Definition for “making allowance” “persevering, tolerating, putting up with each other’s faults”
AS our New Life Traits begin to show, we will “bear with” or “make allowance” for our fellow believers BY clothing ourselves in the five New Life Traits we’ve seen so far. Mercy, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, and Patience.
Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)
2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE we learn to make allowance for each other’s faults.
New Life Trait # 7 (Colossians 3, verse 13)
Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
We must forgive anyone who offends us, and the key words are “must” and “anyone.”
If a Christian is holding unforgiveness in their heart they are in sin, and that sin will separate you from God (Isaiah 59), and it will eat at you like a bleeding ulcer (until you deal with it).
We have twenty-one messages on the topic of “Forgiveness” at wordbymail.com and on the WordByMail Phone app. Go to the WBM website or phone app. Click on “Topic” and go to “Forgiveness,” and there are twenty-one messages there.
If you are stuck in this sin, please start listening to or reading those messages, and as this verse says, remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Jesus got even more “serious” in Matthew 6, verse 15.
Matthew 6:15 (NLT)
15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Everything you need to live in our Divine Forgiveness comes from your growing “Love Relationship” with God and your growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE you learn to walk continually in Divine Forgiveness.
And then, in an “all-encompassing” statement, verse 14 gives us the “above all” New Life Trait and tells us what it is for.
New Life Trait # 8 (Colossians 3, verse 14)
Colossians 3:14 (NLT)
14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.
This New Life Trait is above them all, and it covers them all.
Having all the other virtues means nothing without a genuine spirit of agape love for one another.
The phrase “binds us all together” refers to the “chains of a prisoner” (prisoners bound together). This same word is also used for the “ligaments” of the body, the ligaments that hold all the “joints” together.
Christ’s love constrains and restricts us (forces us) to love one another fervently, and that is what holds the body together in harmony.
1 John 4:21 (NLT)
21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
Everything you need to Clothe Yourself with LOVE comes from your growing “Love Relationship” with God and your growing “Love Relationship” with others.
And then verse 15 goes with “the love that binds us all together in perfect harmony” (verse 14).
New Life Trait # 9 (Colossians 3, verse 15)
Colossians 3:15 (NLT)
15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace . . .
And let the peace that comes from Christ RULE in your heart.
This word for “peace” is used primarily “to describe unity and harmony between two people” or “lack of conflict.” And the cool part is the word “rule” means: “to act as an umpire” or “to make decisions.”
We must let the peace of God RULE our decisions. This doesn’t mean that we’ll always make people happy, and it doesn’t mean we’ll always do what they want us to, but even in difficult circumstances, we can do all we can to maintain “peace in the body” FOR as verse 15 says, as members of one body you are called to live in peace…
Romans 12:18 (NLT)
18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
THAT is WHERE you learn to let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.
New Life Trait # 10 (Colossians 3, verse 15)
Colossians 3:15 (NLT)
15 . . . And always be thankful.
Being genuinely thankful to God IN all circumstances will radically change our relationship with God and with other people because so many conflicts are rooted in envy, jealousy, and self-interest. And if we will always be thankful to God for what he is doing in our life, it will really help eliminate those sins of self-focus. It’s determined by our relationship with God and our knowledge of God’s grace.
And it is IN your growing “Love Relationship” with God
And it is IN your growing “Love Relationship” with others
That you LEARN to always be thankful.
New Life Trait # 11 (Colossians 3, verse 16)
Colossians 3:16 (NLT)
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives . . .
NKJV 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
“Dwell” means “to let the word of Christ, in all its richness,” live unrestrained in your life. (“Dwell” is also translated “abide” in John Chapter 15.) It means to allow Christ to have the reign of your house, to be your “house manager, to be the manager of your life.” “Dwell unrestrained.”
And we must allow the word of Christ, in all its richness, to live unrestrained in our life because Colossians 3, verse 16 continues with this.
New Life Trait # 12 (Colossians 3, verse 16)
Colossians 3:16 (NLT)
16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives . . .
Before we can “teach and counsel” each other with all the wisdom he gives…
We must (first) let the Word of Christ, in all its richness, fill our lives (live unrestrained), THEN we use the wisdom and grace that God gives us to teach and counsel one another.
Listen, here’s the counsel you don’t want. “Well, what I think you should do…” You don’t want to know what I think. I’ve messed up more things than you can even count. Why would you want to know what I think? Nobody should care. You should say, “Hey, what does God think?” What is the message about Christ and all his richness? What does that teach me? What does that counsel me? We think too highly of ourselves. Next time you say to somebody, “Here’s what I think,” just catch yourself and say, “Wait a minute. Maybe we should rephrase that. Let’s see what God thinks.”
We fill ourselves with the Word of Christ, and then it comes out when we counsel people. And then we say things like, “You know, maybe Christ would have you forgive them.” Even if in your heart you’re thinking, no, no, no, don’t forgive them! Retaliate! Out of your mouth will come the Word of Christ because it is dwelling in you richly.
And we allow the Word of Christ to “Fill Our Lives” through our growing “Love Relationship” with God
And we “Teach and Counsel” one another with God’s wisdom through our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
And Colossians 3, verse 16, continues with the following.
New Life Trait # 13 (Colossians 3, verse 16)
Colossians 3:16 (NLT)
16 . . . Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
IF we will allow the Word of Christ to dwell richly in our lives, not only will we be able to teach and counsel each other with its wisdom, BUT it will also cause us to Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts, and I promise you, THAT will change your life – from the inside out.
Psalm 103:1 (NLT)
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
And finally,
New Life Trait # 14 (Colossians 3, verse 17)
Colossians 3:17 (NLT)
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Before you act, react or respond – check yourself. Can you say, “I’m doing this as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ”?
NKJV says, 17 And whatever you do… do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
“In the name of” means “in full accordance with his nature and his character.” It means “acting as HIS representative.” This is the ultimate and final standard to go by. It is the greatest litmus test.
17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
And that wraps up the fourteen “New Life Traits” of Colossians Chapter 3.
This text describes a life so radically transformed that we might say, “I will never be able to live like that!” And, you are exactly right! You will not. But listen, these are not things you accomplish. They’re the life of Christ coming out of you as an expression of your growing love relationship with God and your growing love relationship with others.
If you leave here trying to do this in your own nature, you will fail miserably.
These are New Life Traits. They don’t exist in your own nature.
We’ve got to PUT ON
We’ve got to CLOTHE OURSELVES with
We’ve got to LIVE IN our “New Life Traits”
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.
Never forget that.
Everything we need to live in our “New Life Traits” comes from our growing “Love Relationship” with God and our growing “Love Relationship” with others.