Thoughtfulness, March 17

Thoughtfulness, March 17

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. Colossians 3:12.

Look to Jesus as your guide and pattern.... Study how you can be like Him, in thoughtfulness for others, in meekness and humility. Thus may you “grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ”; you may reflect His image, and be accepted of Him as His own, at His coming.42

When Jesus is comprehended by faith, and brought into the inner sanctuary of the soul, the Holy Spirit will mold and fashion the character after the likeness of Christ. Lessons will then be daily learned in the school of Christ. The character of the tree will be known by its fruits. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” The Christian will shine as a light amid the moral darkness of the world. He will be tender of heart, and considerate of the feelings of others. The Word of God instructs us to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves,” and it is the duty of every Christian to bring himself under discipline to the rules of the Bible, that he may be “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.” The work coming from the hands of those who do this, will be as lasting as eternity. It will not be mingled with a shred of selfishness, and it will not be loose, careless work.43

Tender affections should ever be cherished between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters. Every hasty word should be checked, and there should not be even the appearance of the lack of love one for another. It is the duty of everyone in the family to be pleasant, to speak kindly.

Cultivate tenderness, affection, and love that have expression in little courtesies, in speech, in thoughtful attentions.44

It is the inward adorning, the graces of the Spirit, the kind word, the thoughtful consideration for others that God values.45 [84]