Who I Am In Christ Devotionals

  And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:31-32 God’s children are kind. I’m His child, so I forgive. Why? Because I am forgiven EVERYTHING! But I can’t forgive. I can’t control my anger. And I say stuff about other people, even believers. In frustration. So It’s okay. I was frustrated, right? I can’t control this. Not when I’m actually angry. That’s not what it says. Deep breath. Let. All. I can’t do this. I know I can’t. I’m just not this good, this righteous. What about Jesus? Was He righteous? Yes. What did He say about doing things on His own? In John 5:30, Jesus says that He can nothing on His own. JESUS said it. If Jesus doesn’t do it on His own, why in the world do I think I can take things over? So here’s what I got so far… I must be kind. I must be compassionate. I must be forgiving. And I mu...

  Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor. Proverbs 21:21 Pursue It I know that God wants me, His child, to be righteous and kind. He says it plainly. I'm going to focus on the kindness part in the verse. I find it so interesting that He says to pursue it. Chase it. That suggests that this kindness is elusive, it's not something where I simply say, "I'm kind now." I found this definition of kind: Showing tenderness or goodness; disposed to do good and confer happiness (Wordnik). Interestingly, one of the synonyms of the word is Christlike. Now, I'm not automatically kind. I must work for it, fight for it. It is a challenge, right? But implied in the verse is this: I can attain it. I can be righteous. I can be kind. I'm going to also say that I can grow in it. There are layers to kindness. Love in Action The most kind people try to help you get what you need, maybe even before you realize you need it. This is love...

  Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Colossians 3:12-13 Long Tempered I am looking at verse 13 but I wanted to see the context of verse 12 with it. I am a grateful follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for my sins. Yet, I am convicted that I lack patience. The verse says, "...bearing with one another..." That is patience. People are described sometimes as being "short-tempered." They get mad at other people easily. But what about calling people the opposite, long-tempered? Patience is being long-tempered. This patience is paired with forgiveness. And that is important. If I am not patient, I will have issues with forgiveness. I'll either be flying off at people, or I will bottle up that anger. Speak the Truth in Love...