Three Names
We see that in both Colossians 3:5 and 3:8, Paul also listed five ways of life that Christians should avoid. However, in today's verse, Paul offers five ways of life that Christians ought to follow. And further, he prefaces this list be referring to Christians by using three different names:
- God's chosen onesThe first one, "God's chosen ones." Paul is telling us that this means that God selected or elected them to be part of His family.
- HolySecond, these believers are holy, which means "set apart," and this is due to God's work in them, and not by their own good deeds.
- BelovedThird, he calls believers "beloved" by God (John 3:16).
Five Ways of Life to Follow
As we mentioned earlier, there are five positive ways of life that Christians are to follow described in this verse. Let's go through each of them and break down what they mean and how we can apply them to our lives:
- A compassionate heartThe first positive practice that we're told to have is a compassionate heart. As we talked about when we dove into Galatians 5:4 (Verse of the Day article), this comes as a response to God, and to others, which is filled with love and concern rather than selfishness. We are able to love others selflessly because we have experienced selfless love through Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us.
- KindnessThe second trait that is mentioned by Paul is "kindness." The original Greek word for this is chrēstotēta (χρηστότης). This word can also be translated to mean "moral goodness or integrity." We need to be aware of how we treat others, and this term is an incredible word that allows us some insight into what exactly Paul meant here: kindness, moral goodness, and with integrity.
- Live in humilityThis trait and its value isn't only mentioned in this verse, but throughout Scripture (e.g. James 4:6, Ephesians 4:2, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:5, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Luke 14:11, Micah 6:8, Proverbs 3:34, and many more). This trait has two parts:
- First, we are required that we admit that we are sinners and are in need of a Savior. And it's through this admittance that we as believers recognize God's supremacy in our lives and therefore how limited we are by any comparison.
- Second, it is with humility that we are to treat others without arrogance. It's important that we don't act unfairly towards other people, or put them down with a "holy-than-thou" attitude.
- MeeknessThe original Greek word for this is praotēs (πραότης). One of the reasons that we're looking at the original language here, is because the word "meekness" is often misunderstood and misapplied as an "attitude of fear" by many Christians. Nor is this a suggestion that Christians are supposed to be timid. The way that πραότης is used, means gentleness. A "meek" person is one who controls their strength and power rather than abusing it and having a hard-hearted response to others.
- PatienceThe last trait that Paul expects from believers is that of patience. This word is pretty self-explanatory and is being used here in the way that we generally understand patience.
These traits elsewhere in the Bible
These five traits in this verse alone very closely reflect the list that describes the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 (emphasis added):
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,...
