Wednesday: Character of the New Life
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 11th of March 2026
Having described the bad habits and negative qualities that are removed and put away when we come to Christ, Paul proceeds to the positive—like moving from darkness to light.
Read Colossians 3:12-14. How are believers described, and how do you think it relates to the qualities they are to “put on”?
Image © Educational Concepts Collection at Goodsalt.com
Like Israel, called by God to be His special people and reflect His character, believers in Jesus are “the elect of God” (Colossians 3:12, NKJV), His “chosen ones” (ESV). Not all, though, live up to this calling. As Jesus said, “ ‘Many are called, but few are chosen ’ ” (Matthew 22:14; compare Matthew 24:22,24,31). Paul’s references to the elect have a similar meaning (Romans 8:33, 2 Timothy 2:10). Also, like Israel, believers are “loved” by God and “holy” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). This privilege carries with it an important responsibility: to “proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9, NKJV). And we do that by how we live now.
The eight qualities mentioned by Paul are quite a list! “Tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another,” and “above all . . . love” (Colossians 3:12-14, NKJV). These can spring only from a heart united with Christ, because they describe His character and how He has dealt with us. We are to forgive others “even as Christ forgave you” (Colossians 3:13). Love is “the bond of perfection” (Colossians 3:14, NKJV), because it is His love toward us that binds us to Him and enables us to truly love others (1 John 4:11-12).
These qualities impact our relationships in two ways. First, showing love, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness toward others blesses us and others. It is fulfilling to love and bless others. People will normally respond to us in kind, and we continue to receive God’s mercy and forgiveness (Matthew 5:7, Matthew 6:14). Second, and more important, it glorifies God and may encourage others to believe and follow Jesus, because it shows the power of divine grace. “No other influence that can surround the human soul has such power as the influence of an unselfish life. The strongest argument in favor of the gospel is a loving and lovable Christian.”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 470.
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How well are you representing Jesus in the way you treat others, especially those who may be unkind to you? |
When I was a post grad student, I interacted with a lot of interesting people. We all had one thing in common, research on persistent systems. One of my supervisors was a Jewish Rabbi. A fellow student was an Iranian; A Chinese student I shared a room with at a conference had so sleep with the light on. Another conference participant was a classics professor and pro-vice chancellor at ANU. I had to interact with real people with different temperaments and interests. Some were easy, while others were seriously irritating. When we came together for workshops and seminars, our discussions had to weave their way through the matrix of personalities and backgrounds. It was more than just discussions about computer architecture, memory management, concurrency control mechanisms and so on. That is where people’s real characters showed. Our conferences in Australia were particularly interesting because we mostly knew one another.
Christianity is our common theme but Christianity is not just a set of knowledge discussed by the knowledgeable. It is played out among real people who know one another. How we interact is even more important than what we say. We have the sharp-witted, the slow thinkers, the irritating gits, and the “quoters”. And, to a large extent, nobody is going to change. The measure of our Christianity is not how much we change them but how we treat one another. That is where love, mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering and forgiveness come into play.
Christianity is not about who can assemble the most erudite argument, the best set of quotes, or the longest list of points. We can get current artificial intelligence to do that for us. But, AI can only assemble words; it cannot love.
Yes, I know I usually quote the KJV version, but I thought it was time for a change! The message is still the same!
LOL! I don’t see you usually quoting the KJV!
I think it would help a lot if we all took this seriously:
It took me a lot of years to come to the same conclusion. Thank you for reminding us.
Some years ago, I decided to look a little closer into what Ellen White said and wrote at the time of the 1888 conference that some people like to talk about so much – you know, “the 1888 message.” There’s a whole set of 1888 messages by Ellen White available in the app. What I found most interesting is that she didn’t say much about what people now see as “the 1888 message.” She did, however, say a lot about the way people treated each other – the attitudes they demonstrated.
”The strongest argument in favour of the gospel is a loving and lovable Christian.” (Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 470). This statement is absolutely true. No amount defence we can give in support of the gospel if we fail to follow and live the message. Before we can preach the gospel, we must become followers first. The most powerful way to validate the gospel is through the character and life of those who profess to be the followers of Jesus. We easily “assassinate” the gospel by living a wicked and crooked life. We are the ambassadors of the gospel. The world will desire the gospel based on what they perceive in us. We are witnesses to the world. The credibility of the gospel is strengthened through the values that we manifest in all that we do and speak.
“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). Jesus even called us the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). We have got flavour to add to the tasteless world; love, kindness, mercy, compassion, goodness, hope, justice and forgiveness. We have been called to influence the world positively through our character and actions. As salt preserves food, we too, should preserve moral and spiritual values in our families, at workplace, in our communities and in our societies. We ought to be catalysts for good.
”So, let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:9–10,NLT)
Over the years, polls have shown that there is often no clear difference between Christians and the rest of the world in behavior. In fact, the rate of divorce within the church is sometimes slightly higher than in the general population, and there has also been an increase in Christian leaders struggling with pornography and sexual immorality. When I read what Paul says, it challenges me deeply regarding what is expected of me. As much as God loves and accepts ?me unconditionally, there are responsibilities that come with representing Him in the world. God desires true change in me an inward transformation that becomes visible on the outside. This means letting go of old habits and beginning new ones.
A changed life requires a changed mind. Ephesians 4:23 says, “…and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” True transformation involves not only changing our habits but also our thought patterns. We are called to begin thinking as victorious individuals in Christ rather than as defeated victims. This means learning to walk by faith and not by sight. When Paul speaks about being “renewed in the spirit of your mind,” he is referring to the spirit that controls and influences us. He expresses a similar idea in 1 Corinthians 2:12: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.”
My humble responsibility as a child of God is to base my life on what Christ has done rather than on the information that comes from news networks or even the internet. I do not need to be shaped by the spirit of the world; instead, my mind must be renewed daily by the Word of God. As this renewal takes place, it helps me live in peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, and self-control—qualities that reflect the fruit of the Spirit and the standard of life God desires for me.
I screenshot the last paragraph of your comment. Thank you.
If Paul were alive today, would he change his wording of Romans 2:17-25 to something like the following?
Romans 2:17-25
Behold, you are called a Christian and you rest in your belief in Christ, and make your boast of God, [18] And know His will, and approve the things that are more excellent, being instructed out His holy word, the Bible; [19] And are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to them which are in darkness, [20] An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which have the form of knowledge and of the truth in the gospel. [21] You then who are teaching another, do you not teach yourself? You that preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? [22] You that say a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege? [23] You who are bragging of Christ, through not following Him in word and deed, do you dishonor God? [24] For the name of God is blasphemed among unbelievers through you, as it is written. [25] For belief in Christ certainly profits, if you follow and practice His teaching, but if you claim to be His disciple while not practicing His teaching, your so called belief is made unbelief.
Amen brother.
The new life in Christ is greatly visible in the way we treat and interact with others, especially our subordinates and adversaries. I pray for myself and for others that our lives with others will be a reflection of our new life in Christ.
“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:12-13 NLT
I find it interesting that when we are more Christ-like, instead of being more holier-than-thou, or self-righteous, we become more patient, merciful, and forgiving.
When we choose to follow Christ and allow him to dwell in us, he does the changing of our characters, but only with our permission. The Holy Spirit works in ways unimaginable, and in many ways, impossible to us.
I recently saw a Facebook Reel with a Pastor stating that, “you only truly love God as much as you love the person you love the least. The test of Christianity is not do you love Jesus? Because Jesus is pretty lovable. The test of Christianity is, do you love Judas?” Those are challenging words that cut to the heart of the matter.
This is where the “rubber meets the road” in our Christian experience. It’s easy to be nice, kind, forgiving, loving and all those other attributes to those that treat us that way. But what about the Judas’ in our lives? The ones that betray us, hurt us, mock us, and treat us totally the opposite.
It’s not always easy to be a Christian among Christians. You know what I mean? How much more challenging is it to be one among non-Christians, among the difficult people that we may interact with? Do we consider ourselves blessed when we are persecuted, or do we let “the old man” rise up in us?
I really gain from forgiving those who do or wish me bad things. When I forgive others and set them free, I myself am untitled to forgiveness and freedom. Love is a winner, always! God is a winner because He is love.
Col.3:12-17 – when Paul called the believers at Colossae to ‘put on the new man’ – extending tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering’, etc. to their fellow man, this would only be the outward signs of a changed heart. The new faith goes much deeper, it changes our heart and mind when we start to listen and follow the Holy Spirit.
v.16 – ”Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
v.17 – ”And what ever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Can man do right on his own, or does he need to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Can he be filled with God’s Spirit unless he loves Him?
Matt.22:1-40 – vs.14 states that Jesus said: ”For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Many of the religious leaders challenged Him, trying to find fault with His teachings. But when asked, about what the greatest commandment is, He pointed out –
Matt.22:37-40: ”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Then, and only then, is our conduct inspired by God’s Righteousness through the Holy Spirit when loving our fellow man.
The more we love God, the more we love our fellow man and want to do right by him. It is impossible to love others without accepting and experiencing God’s love first – 1 John 4:19.
It is hard for me to think about loving everyone and a loving God when I read about Joshua leading the Israelites into Canaan {The Promised Land} and God had Joshua kill every living thing in some of the cities including children and babies.
You are quite right Glenn, and it is a question I have thought about a lot. I have no definitive answer, and some of the definitive answers I hear given with an air of confidence and authority raise more questions. There are a few points that I like to remind myself:
Sometimes, we want perfect answers, when God wants us to think about the problem.That is one thing I learned from maths. It wasn’t teaching answers, it was teaching how to think!
Glen, your concern is valid, and there are some things we may not understand right now.
Yet, there are some things we do know about God, and one is that, He a is patient and long suffering God, who is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9.
Just as He’s patient and long suffering with us today and giving some of us time to repent and turn from our wicked ways, He didn’t just destroy the Canaanites without working with them and giving them a chance to change from their idol worshiping ways.
In Genesis 15:16, God tells Abraham that his descendants will not inherit the land immediately. He says: “In the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” The Amorites were the Canaanite people living in the land. God delayed Israel’s conquest for about 400 years. This shows that God was allowing time for their sin to run its course, and giving a period where repentance was possible.
Another example of God being long suffering and compassion is seen when God sends Jonah to warn Nineveh, a pagan city. When the people of Nineveh repented, God spares them. This illustrates that God warns nations before carrying out His Judgment.
We may not always understand why God does what He does, but for Him to send His only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world, proves that He is a God of love.
Be blessed.
Hi Glen, good question and hard to understand. I heard it explained like this which made sense to me.
God had a non-violet plan for how Israel was to occupy the Promised Land (Exodus 23:27-30 – by driving the people out with hornets). God knows the horrible damage that people experience in war, in conflict, in fighting. It is not God’s design for one human to kill another. Even the victors in war are traumatized and damaged by their experiences in combat.
So, like when the Israelites wanted more than manna in the desert, God gave them quail. And like when they didn’t just want priests, but a king, God allowed them to have a king. And this is the same, they wanted to take the land before waiting for God to drive out the inhabitants, and so God allowed it, but for the overall least amount of pain and suffering, he ordered them to kill everyone and even the animals.
Because war causes casualties, trauma, suffering.. in the big picture, God knew that leaving some alive would leave them with trauma and pain. Bear in mind they are not eternally dead, but they will be raised again and only God knows the hearts of everyone and what they are choosing to follow.. love and kindness or selfish ways.
A really helpful SDA ministry which I find practical and realistic is comeandreason.com. I hope this helps you understand from God’s perspective. He is working with people with free choice and fallen natures.
We need to show kindness, forgiving one another as Jesus did in His times