Welcome back to the A United Front course where we are studying God's Word to become a united front with our spouse against the attacks of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
In recent lessons, we've been studying Colossians 3:12-13. So far, we've explored the attributes of a compassionate heart and kindness. God, the Father, demonstrated both when He sent Jesus who died to forgive our sins, restore our relationship with God, and give us eternal life with Him. We understood that as forgiven, holy, beloved children of God, we are to put on these attributes of Christ. And we put on compassionate hearts and kindness by looking to Christ and His cross, for as we "behold" Him we transform into His image.
Now, let’s review Colossians 3:12-13 to uncover the next gospel characteristic to which we are called:
”Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Question 1. According to Colossians 3, after a compassionate heart and kindness what are we to put on as God's chosen ones?
According to vs. 12, we are to put on “humility”, or other translations read “lowliness of mind.” I find it easiest to understand humility when considering Christ. To get a better understanding of what it means to be humble, let us consider Philippians 2:5-9, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,”
Question 2. We are to have the same mind as Christ. According to Philippians 2:5-9, how did Christ humble Himself?