Greatest of the Gifts of the Spirit is love.

 

Paul is in Colossians 3 listing all the virtues that characterize grateful, Christian living.

 

Colossians 3 : 12 - 14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 

It is important that we must “over all” put on love, which binds all Christian virtues together and ultimately making us people who forgive as the Lord forgave us. This is our response to being God’s people, sanctified by the Lord and dearly loved by him.

For this glorious gift of love and unity and for all our privileges received by the grace of God, we ought to live lives filled with gratefulness. In verse 17 Paul says: “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

 

We express our gratitude, whatever we do, by putting on love!

 

What is love? According to 1 Corinthians 13, love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. (Verses 4 – 7)

 

God is love and his relationship with us shows his daily passionate love for his people, his holy and dearly loved children. We are to share the love of God with the world that needs to put to death its selfishness, greed and anger. We need to put on love, to become the grateful followers of our God who gave his best to us, even Jesus Christ, his Son and by loving him, share him with a desperately divided, angry society.

 

When we make God known through living in daily thankfulness to the Lord for all our blessings and privileges, we will clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

We will bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances we may have against one another.

We will forgive as the Lord forgave us.

 

Over all we will put on love, which binds all our spiritual gifs, and all God’s children, together in perfect unity!