“Since God chose you to be the holy, set apart people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
Colossians 4:7
Every year when I was in school, we were required to go to “PE” class—better known as gym class. There were always a handful of students who hated it because we would team up to play kickball or dodgeball or pretty much anything that required a ball. This meant there would be team captains to pick players. It was a time honored tradition that picking teams in gym class starts with the best athlete and progressed to the worst. I’m sure you’ve been there/done that before. On one particular day, the boy standing next to me said, “I know what’s about to happen again. I won’t get picked. I am huge. I almost block the sun. I am too clumsy.” Personally, I always felt this was a terrible system, leaving all the uncoordinated guys or gals stranded on the sidelines looking at each other in their gym shorts and t-shirts. It was clear who was coordinated, talented and got picked, and who wasn’t. Self worth was on full display for all to see. Quite honestly, my heart went out to these students. I felt compassion for them. I’m so thankful God doesn’t choose who will be with Him the way the students in the PE class picked who would be on their team.Listen closely: If you are a disciple of Christ, a follower of Jesus, one who by grace, through faith, in Christ said yes to surrendering your life to Him—then you are a born again Christian. God picked you. He chose you. He selected you. God imparted the exact amount of faith you needed in order to say yes to Him. Now as a follower of Christ, look at what God asks you to put on, to clothe yourself with . . .“Since God chose you to be the holy, set apart people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with . . .
- Compassion
- Kindness
- Humility
- Gentleness
- Patience
All five of these attributes describe the character of Christ. They describe who Christ is. And all five, the God of the universe demonstrated to you—even while you were spiritually dead, and completely separated from a ‘right relationship’ with God in your trespasses and sins. That is amazing love and amazing grace!Call time out. Pause. Take time today to thank God for choosing you to be on His team. God picked you! Thank Him for His amazing compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience that He extended to you. Now go, and extend these same five characteristics to others in and around your life. You’ll be glad you did.Love God. Love People. Live Sent.Be Worth Being,KevinSUBSCRIBE TO "OVER THE HUMP" DEVOTIONALKevin Burrell has worked in professional baseball as both a player and MLB scout for the past 40 years, and currently serves as an area scouting supervisor. Kevin was drafted in the 1st round of the 1981 free agent amateur draft (25th selection overall), and played ten years of professional baseball with four different organizations. He and his wife, Valerie, live in Sharpsburg, Ga.
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