The Thursday after Cantate Sunday
Posted on May 22, 2025 by under
Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17 (NKJV)
3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Devotion
We rightly reject false compassion and the empty sentiments of those who express their care for others, but do not act accordingly. There is also the distortion of men who try to express gentleness by being effeminate. It has become fashionable in certain circles to push back against these distorted modern ‘virtues’ by trying to make virtues out of rudeness, callousness, and arrogance. They end up sliding from one ditch to the other.
Manliness is not the opposite of Colossians 3; God’s Word shows the core of true manliness. The virtues of Colossians 3 mark true Christian men and women, because these virtues imitate Christ’s virtues. When the world is callous, the Christian is compassionate. When the world is arrogant, the Christian is humble. We are marked by compassion and forgiveness because that is what Christ is to us. In our baptism, Christ took us out of our miserable situation and restored us to our Father’s house. Jesus Christ gave us everything freely.
We can now live in bold openness and love to all around us. That doesn’t mean we live foolishly or unrealistically, but in concert with clear-eyed sobriety about the world. We can live in quiet compassion for others. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts,” not the perpetual outrage of the sinful masses and their false virtues.
Collect: O God, Who makest the minds of the faithful to be of one will: Grant unto Thy people that they may love what Thou commandest, and desire what Thou dost promise; that, among the manifold changes of this world, our hearts may there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
