In Colossians 3:12-14, “forbearance” (“bear with each other’), and forgiveness are put together. We use the word “patience” in the place of forbearance today. The mark of a person who lives in grace is that they are willing to “put up” with others. Love not only covers a multitude of sins, but also a multitude of faults in one another. The extent of our love for each other will be based on our consciousness of and appreciation of God’s love for us. Forgiveness differs from forbearance in that it has to do with real wrongs committed against us. Christian living by grace recognizes our own spiritual bankruptcy, and by recognizing our bankruptcy it leads us to put on the garments of grace. We must begin and end with an understanding of our unworthiness to have God’s grace, but the wonder of receiving that grace. Today, as we lay aside our remnants of self-goodness and admit our total spiritual bankruptcy, we can drink deeply from the infinite grace of God. This drink will provide for us an awareness of what we have received, and extend that same spirit of grace to others.… READ MORE

A person living by God’s grace will clothe themselves with humility. Unfortunately, this particular frit of the Spirit is not eagerly sought after by most believers. Perhaps that is because it is often confused with self-depreciation, which denies there is any good or worth in us. Humility gives credit where credit is due, namely to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Humility begins with God’s grace nd recognizes that the good in us, and the good done by us in service to God and other people, is totally undeserved on our part and is due to the work of the Holy Spirit. Pride, which is the opposite of humility, seeks to find within ourselves some innate goodness or even to ascribe to our own commitment or faithfulness the cause of any blessing of God in our lives. Jesus said in John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do … READ MORE

Gratitude is a handmaiden of contentment. An ever-growing attitude of gratitude will certainly make us more content since we will be focusing more on what we do have than on what we do not have. Discontentment usually arises when we think we are not getting what we DESERVE, or when we think we are not getting as MUCH as someone else. If we want to live by what we deserve, we ill be in dire straights! Our problem is we don’t recognize how far short we come every day in doing what we are supposed to do. We read in 1 Timothy 6:6 “godliness with contentment is great gain.” All the wealth and prestige in teh world with discontentment results in poverty of Spirit. Contentment arises in our souls from living by grace which brings great wealth of spirit, even if we are living in personal poverty and obscurity. Contentment is a process and we are told in Philippians 4:11 that it is something that we must learn. Living in God’s grace will manifest itself by being content with the plan and purpose of a God who loves us and will use our current circumstances to mold us into the … READ MORE