Sealed With Love
Monday, February 12
Colossians 3:12-15 (TPT)
”You are always and dearly loved by God! So robe yourself with virtues of God, since you have been divinely chosen to be holy. Be merciful as you endeavor to understand others, and be compassionate, showing kindness toward all. Be gentle and humble, unoffendable in your patience with others. Bearing the weaknesses of those in the family of faith, forgiving one another in the same way you have been graciously forgiven by Jesus Christ. If you find fault with someone, release this same gift of forgiveness to them. For love is supreme and must flow through each of these virtues. Love becomes the mark of true maturity. Let your heart be always guided by the peace of the Anointed One, who called you to peace as part of his one body. And always be thankful.“
Devotion
What a beautiful model of love that is set before us. How perfect the Spirit of love is for us to exemplify in our everyday lives. Even as Christ forgave us we are commissioned to forgive others. What more noble pattern could be chosen other than to love and forgive as Christ forgave us? We must choose the way of Christ by clothing ourselves with these virtues.
How do we clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, all sealed with love? Well, first we must recognize that these virtues are the character of Jesus. Romans 13:14 tells us to ”Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.“ We can clothe ourselves with Christ by putting on the full armor of God which is also Christ’s character (Ephesians 6). His belt of Truth, which is His Word and in itself Jesus, and He himself is Love. The belt acts as a connector for all the other garments. So when we clothe ourselves with His Truth we are clothing ourselves with His love that seals every other garment (virtue) that we put on. Without love nothing else we do matters (1 Corinthians 13).
Christ must be in us before he can be on us. Christ must be in the heart by faith before he can be in the life by holiness. If you need light from a lantern, the first business is to light the candle inside it, and then as a result, the light (love) shines through. When Christ forms in us and becomes our new nature, we cannot conceal our love for him and others. We remember his love and forgiveness towards us that it overflows onto and into others.
As we have Christ within us in the secret parts of our lives, so we put on Christ to be the beauty of our daily lives. The external will be brightened by the internal and this will be our armor of light that we are blessed to wear as God’s children.
The Lord himself stands before us. When he hung on the cross, the spectators and mockers never asked for his forgiveness, but he gave it to them anyway (Luke 23:34). Let us daily turn our attention to the cross. Let us release every weight that entangles us and blinds us from loving others. Let us release forgiveness to all those who have offended us and in so doing find the shackles around our hearts released off of us.
Today’s Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
There is no love like Your love, and no forgiveness is ever offered that can compare to Yours. I praise You for providing the way for us to receive Your beautiful gift of forgiveness. I know that Your forgiveness toward me is an example that I should follow in forgiving those who offend me. I ask that You grant me the wisdom and the boldness to do so, even when they never ask or the wrongs against me continue. Help me to consistently walk in forgiveness toward others. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Apply It Today
Make a list of people you are yet to forgive. Set aside time to pray over each of those people each day, asking God to clear your heart of any unforgiveness against them, and to cleanse them from their sins. It may seem awkward at first but ask God to bless them and their families. You will find that as you do this, you will truly desire to see them walk with God and in His blessings, thereby receiving your freedom as you let go.
Resources:
- If you’re trying to figure out how forgiveness works, watch the message, “The Mathematics Of Forgiveness,” and be inspired.
- Need a prayer partner as you release those who have offended you? Submit a Prayer Request today, and our team will stand with you.