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.

Collosians 3:12-14

Today I listened to a podcast by a pastor who pretty much summed up the passage above as a pledge to the community where his church is located. While his views are biblical and stand in stark contrast to much of the community around him, he committed to be compassionate, kind, gentle, and patient with a kind of expressed humility that still was firm and non-compromising.

That’s what Paul has called us to do as well. We shouldn’t be surprised when the culture opposes biblical views, but we shouldn’t be astonished to learn that we should respond with what is essentially the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23.

Next, Paul charges us to put up with each other and to always be forgiving – “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

And what is the glue that holds our virtuous life together? Paul tells us that Love ties everything else in the Christian life together.

It’s quite a challenge, isn’t it?