A Faithful Representation

October 22, 2021

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. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:12-14 NLT

I did a little bit of art study back in my school days and one of the tidbits of wisdom I picked up was this: A really gifted and skilled artist will not be mistaken for someone else. The artist’s style is unique and virtually impossible to completely duplicate in the details, though there will be many imitations. I think of that as I read these words.

God is the perfect lover, and as our lives seek to imitate Him and His love, we will never get it perfect, but our imitation will be magnetic. When people see our relationships and experience interaction with us, they may reject “church,” but they won’t reject the character and kind of affirmation and love we display. They will be attracted and will want something like that for themselves.

God chose us as His children to have His DNA and work with Him to be His conduits of character and love in our world. Paul tells us that we are to actively participate in becoming that attractive and compelling witness. We have the responsibility and privilege of clothing ourselves in His likeness. In situations where revenge might be understood, we choose to wear tenderhearted mercy. We put on kindness in harsh circumstances. When the norm is mowing down people and running over them with harshness to get a preferred outcome, we are distinguished by gentleness. When the actions and words of the crowd drip with impatience and irritation, we are patient and calmly restrained.

No matter how well behaved and loving we are, others will hurt us, intentionally and accidentally. Their faults and flaws will make life harder for us. But we will be understanding, deliberately choosing to forgive and not make an issue of their failures. We do it because we remember that we too are people in need of forgiveness, and Jesus has done that for us. Our love will be the unifying factor, the thing that brings harmony in a clashing culture.

When we love and live like that in our marriages, we become a vibrant witness of what the whole world seeks.

• Lord Jesus, help me love openly and intentionally as a witness to who You are in my closest relationship. Amen.