When interacting with others, we are to show them the character of God. This devotion begins to look at what is expected of disciples to do that.
Nuggets
- God chose mankind to whom to show His love.
- He has special blessings set aside for those who admit their sins, believe in Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer, and confess Him as Sovereign Lord.
- God expects us to have a heartfelt sympathy for others.
- Love is expressed through kindness – kindness is the action.
- Humility means we have a real perspective about ourselves.
So, if disciples are to be light in the world, what is expected of us in our interactions with others? Paul discussed just that.
Oh, yeah. We have discussed it previously, too. We’ve even used some of these verses sometimes.
But we are looking at it through a different lens. We are looking at it through society’s lens. How does what is expected of us, as disciples, impact how we interact with society?
This started running long, so I am going to break it into two devotions.
Let's Put It into Context
We are going to use the following definition from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for social. It is defined as “of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society.”
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God’s Chosen Ones
“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” (Col. 3: 12-13 CSB)
God chose us. I think the best way to describe it is there are two different types of chosen ones.
God chose mankind to whom to show His love. After we disobeyed Him, He has provided His plan of salvation for all who will accept. He doesn’t offer it to Tom, but not to Sally or Elaine. God offers it to everyone.
There is no evidence that God does not love non-believers. In fact, there is evidence to the opposite.
- “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3: 16 ESV).
- “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5: 8 NLT).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
His Chosen People
That being said, God loves His chosen people. “… as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved …” (Col. 3: 12 CSB).
God loves those who love and submit to Him. He has special blessings set aside for those who admit their sins, believe in Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer, and confess Him as Sovereign Lord.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Being God’s chosen people make us His treasure. “The LORD has declared today that you are his people, his own special treasure, just as he promised, and that you must obey all his commands” (Deut. 26: 18 NLT).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Elect
His chosen people are also called the elect. We’ve talked about that before. Election is that God chose to accomplish the plan of salvation to restore His people. When we choose to accept the gift of salvation, we become the elect.
Glossary
But we can’t think election is just one sided. Daille wrote, “Election is ever accompanied by conversion and sanctification. No one knows of his election but by its effects.”
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Until we experience conversion, we are not the elect. Once we do, we have to be navigating the sanctification road to be changing our character to be more like God’s. Paul tells us characteristics on which to focus.
The defining aspect of being God’s elect is we are all to be holy. Holy means to be set apart, perfect, and pure. When non-believers see the evidence of our being pure and set apart, they begin to equate that with our being God’s elect.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Compassion
God expects us to have a heartfelt sympathy for others. The Holman Bible Dictionary defines compassion as “to feel passion with someone, to enter sympathetically into their sorrow and pain.”
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We are to feel pity when someone is experiencing suffering or distress. Love softened by sorrow must be felt from the heart and result in actions.
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Because it is felt from the heart, that means the words spoken are not careless or cruel. Instead, it is mercy. Our interactions are real.
Davenant stated that what the Jews called bowels of mercies is a part of regeneration. It is called this because it is a gut feeling. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
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Glover argued that, to be a true disciple, pity and love must follow repentance. Repentance is expressing sorrow for breaking God’s laws and commandments by making the commitment to changing ourselves through obedience so that we no longer do the wrong things.
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It is only through faith that disciples attempt to imitate Jesus and exhibit true compassion, pity, and love.
Kindness
We’ve talked about kindness before, labeling it a virtue. The Holman Bible Dictionary defines kindness as “the steadfast love that maintains relationships through gracious aid in times of need.”
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
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I like how Daille described kindness. He wrote, “Kindness is a goodness of nature that takes pleasure in obliging and avoids injuring. We are obliged to this by our stewardship of God’s manifold grace.”
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Love is expressed through kindness. Kindness is the action.
Barnes noted kindness should be shown by one disciple to another who is gripped in sin. We are told that, “brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted” (Gal. 6: 1 ESV).
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But in this series, we are looking at disciples’ interactions with others. How do we equate that to showing kindness when pointing out sins to non-believers?
Worldview people want disciples to believe that we can’t point out that their actions are sins. They tell us we should not judge (Mt. 7: 1) — which is true.
However, how we do or do not approach the non-believer does not change the fact that God has determined what is sin and what isn’t. God will judge them on His timetable.
We have to show kindness and compassion as we witness to them.
Humility
Humility is a character trait that diminishes pride and places dependence on God while holding a modest view of our importance with respect to others. This doesn’t mean we bite on ourselves for no reason.
It means we have a real perspective about ourselves. But we have to realize that we should focus on our character, not our intelligence.
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And what do we keep saying? We have to change our character to imitate God. We only deserve blessings because of what He has done for us. We would be nothing without Him.
But it does mean more than just how we perceive ourselves. Not only do we have a modest demeanor, but we also elevate others.
Look what Daille said. He wrote, “Humility is the mother of patience and the nurse of charity.”
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Making the Connections
Compassion, kindness, and humility. I can see the first two have a definite link.
Some may think the link humility has with the other two is a little more obscure. But really, we won’t have much of the first two if we don’t have the last one, will we?
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.
Our questions should still serve us to determine on what we need to focus.
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
Things may be a little less hectic these days – for some – but they are more stressful in many ways. It is really easy to just react when we are going ninety to nothing through our day.
When we get into a situation where we just want to start spewing, we need to stop and take a breath. God will accept a “HELP!!!” prayer. (Remember, we have said we don’t have to pray in the King James Version, as poetic as it is.)
I know. Satan wants us to just respond. He wants us to come out in defensive – or even offensive – mode. He wants the confrontation.
We have to imitate God in these situations. That is especially true when we are interacting with non-believers. We are showing them God.
I think another way to become more compassionate, kind, and humble is to examine our reactions at the end of the day. Get out of the heat of the moment. Get into reflection mode. Ask ourselves the following questions:
- Was this a normal reaction in situations such as this?
- What was the trigger that made us react as we did?
- What would have been a better way to react?
- What can we do to react in a better way in the future?
To many, compassion and kindness seem like basic responses we all should have for others. That is true in one way. We, as disciples, should have more, though, as we are imitating God’s limitless compassion and kindness.
Father God. We want our character to imitate Yours. Help us to be compassionate and kind to those with whom we interact. We pray for humility to replace our pride. Help us to grow more like You so that we can show others who You are. Amen.
What do you think?
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