Christ Like

Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (NIV)

Notice he does not tell us to wait for God to create those gifts within us. He says to clothe yourself. Does this mean we are to fake it?

As we give our lives over to God and let Him take over, we let Jesus in as the Lord of our life. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to live in us as believers. Paul refers to this as Christ within.

As believers, Jesus is in us and we are in Him. However, this does not mean we change. The act of believing is not a switch that turns us from being who we have grown up as in these mortal bodies to being just like Christ.

Believing and asking Jesus to be Lord gives Him permission to change us. He does this one thing at a time, but with our involvement. He shows us our evil ways and as we acknowledge them to Him and ask for His help, He takes those things away.

Others see the changes in us. They see our nature change to be more Christ like. They witness a new person coming forth out of that old body.

So what does he mean when he tells us to clothe ourselves? We knew right from wrong even before we were born again. While we are allowing God to change us, we need to be aware of our words and our actions toward others. As such, we should show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience in all we do even before it is our nature to do so.

In all we do, we should be Christ. Others should see His light shine through us.