This morning I preached from Colossians 3:5-15. In verse 12, Paul says "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
Paul originally wrote those words in Greek. And in the Greek language the word translated "yourselves" is the word "splachnon". The splachnon in Paul's day was the seat of emotions. The cultural equivalent today is the heart. We say things like "he broke my heart." Which means "he emotionally hurt me."
The splachnon was the seat of emotions in Paul's day.
So Paul is saying "clothe your splachnon (the seat of your emotions) with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
This morning I asked "how's your splachnon?" Do you lash out in anger when you are hurt? Do you hold grudges when you don't get your way? Do you withhold affection from your spouse when you are angry with him or her? What is your first emotional response when your pride or ego is threatened? Is it anger, malice, retaliation or passive-aggressiveness? If it's any of those things, God wants you to get rid of your old ways and clothe your splachnon with the virtues of love.
So how's your splachnon? How are your emotions? Just imagine how much better all of your relationships would be if they were filtered through the virtues of love.
May you clothe your splachnon in love!
To hear the message, you can scroll to the bottom of this blog and find it there through the sermon.net player or you can go here and click messages.
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