“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

Uniforms.

Some sports team’s uniforms are classy. Some are…well…not so much.

Did you know Christian’s have a uniform? Yup. The Apostle Paul tells us what the Christian uniform looks like:

• compassion
• kindness
• humility
• meekness
• patience

Think about our world. Our world desperately needs Christians who are uniformed with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

The reason why these are to be the marks of the Christian’s uniform is because Christians are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved by God. Because of all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we are to resemble our God and our Savior.

Here’s the thing about these marks of the Christian’s uniform: you have to put it on. You have to clothe yourselves with these marks. These characteristics don’t just happen. We have to actively put them on. We have to put them on because these are foreign to our natural selves. The marks of our natural selves are the opposite of the marks of the Christian. The marks of the world’s uniform are:

• indifference vs compassion
• coldheartedness vs kindness
• proud vs humility
• superiority vs meekness
• impatience vs patience

The marks of the world’s uniform, we are born with. We don’t have to work at them. We just have them.

Just as we are intentional about dressing ourselves in the morning, we need to be intentional about putting on the Christian uniform. We have to put the marks of the Christian uniform on every day.

So, let’s get dressed! It’s game time!

“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3).

Out of all the New Testament uses of the word “patience,” more than half of the references are of God’s patience. The other half of the references are in reference to the patience that disciples and followers of Jesus Christ based on God’s patience with us.

Because God has been long-suffering, patient, long-waiting before acting in anger and judgment with us, we are now called to practice long-suffering, patience, long-waiting before reacting in anger and judgment toward others.

Notice why we are to be patient with others. It’s because we are, and continue to be, the recipients of God’s patience toward us.

Because patience is a characteristic of God, patience is to be a characteristic of God-followers.

How do we do that? How do we practice patience?

• long-suffer
• forbear
• long-waiting before reacting

The more we practice patience, the better we become at being patient.

Let’s get practicing. Let’s get to work.

“The saying is sure and worth of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15-16).

If you are a sinner, this is great news!

If you are a repeat sinner, this is great news!

If you struggle with doubts, this is great news!

Here is the God-honest truth: when God thought of eternity, God could not imagine spending an eternity without you in it. Because sin separates us from the presence of God, God had to come up with a way to get us into a right relationship with God.

God’s solution? Jesus Christ. Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Sinners. First time sinners, regular sinners, repeat sinners. Gay sinners. Straight sinners. Republican sinners. Democrat sinners. Black Lives Matter sinners. All Lives Matter sinners. All sinners.

The Apostle Paul claims the title of the foremost sinner. Not sure about that. There have been others who have tried mightily hard to dethrone the Apostle Paul from this title. But, we’ll just go with that for now.

The Apostle Paul declares because he is the foremost sinner, because Christ came to save such sinners, he has received mercy so that in him Christ might display his utmost patience. Let’s unravel this.

• Paul – foremost sinner
• Christ – came into the world to save sinners
• Paul – received mercy
  • Mercy – when we don’t receive what we rightfully deserve
  • Paul and all sinners deserve God’s wrath and punishment. But because of God’s love and heart for sinners, instead, we receive Christ’s mercy
  • We are saved from what we rightfully deserve because Christ took on God’s wrath and paid the price for our sins
• Christ – displays his utmost patience with sinners

Because we live in the time in between Christ who ushered in his kingdom and the time when Christ will come again to establish his kingdom, we are saved but we are saved sinners who still live in the flesh.

As long as we have this flesh, we will continue to have fleshly problems. There are some sins we will struggle with until the day we die or until Christ returns – whichever comes first. When we are resurrected, God promises to give us new bodies. Until then, we will struggle with our flesh.

That’s why Christ’s utmost patience with sinners is such great news.

So, then does this mean we can celebrate our sin? Enjoy our sin?

No! This doesn’t mean we give into our sins. Keep struggling. But recognize that the struggle itself pleases and honors God.