“Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;”

This is the antidote to spiritual failure. We put off the prejudice and exclusivity and put on these beautiful spiritual virtues. We have these virtues in us as God’s people, and they should flow out of us in all the circumstances of our lives. We can exhibit these graces because we have been made holy and are beloved of God, therefore our hearts are full of love towards others and we reach out with them. 

Our heart should resonate with the heart of God and be in tune with His will for people and this present world. Hearts full of compassion which can empathise with other people and identify with them in sorrow and joy is the mark of the Christian. Kindness is our identity for Jesus has directly told us to be kind. We are able to humble ourselves before people of all sorts and have ceased thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. Our spiritual energy is able to last out to the end of the task and carry out the will of the Father in heaven, as our Saviour did. We become more and more like Christ as we use these virtues and conform ourselves to His perfect pattern. 

Having a heart of compassion is key. Without a loving heart the other graces will not follow. We will not be kind or lowly, but be puffed up with the sense of our own importance and make no impact on the souls of other people. Our faith will be small and we will be tempted to give up. Our focus will be on ourselves and how we can get people to help us, and not on making such sacrifice ourselves for other people. The inward looking viewpoint will increase the selfish attitude that still resides in our souls and make us small-minded and self-orientated. 

Only the love of Christ can sustain us and deal with our many foibles and weaknesses. It is He alone who can see His people through to the very end and save our souls from all that would drag us down. Only He can releases from a myopic view of the world and widen our outlook towards other situations other than our own.

Do not forget that we are chosen and kept in Him and through Jesus we will gain the victory. We are brave in our resistance against sin and in facing our failures for His sake. Emulating Him will make us bigger hearted and teach us to love others as we love ourselves.