Don’t Leave Home Without It

ByJim Stephens

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers and friends who live in the USA! It’s become pretty much common knowledge around the world that in the US we have an annual Thanksgiving Holiday in which we take time to be grateful for our blessings. For those reading this elsewhere, Happy Thanksgiving to you as well! Take some time to be thankful for God and good! Grace and peace to you all, Jim and Jean Stephens

Reading: Colossians 3; Psalm 123

12 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. 13 Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. 14 And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. (Colossians 3:12-14 MSG)

Paul uses a word picture of our old-life attitudes and behavior before we put our faith in Jesus Christ being like a “filthy set of ill-fitting clothes” to be stripped off and put in the fire. He describes our new-life attitudes and behavior being like a “wardrobe God picked out for us.”

Just as we change out of our dirty “work clothes” or our well-worn “around-the-house” jeans and sweatshirt to go out to a party, we must choose daily to strip off the old filthy set of clothes and choose daily to put on the new wardrobe God has picked out for us.

Like the daily “putting on God’s armor” Paul wrote about to the Ephesian believers in Ephesians 6:10-18, this is an intentional and daily dressing ourselves in the God-provided garments of:

  • Compassion, kindness, humility,
  • Quiet strength, discipline, even-temperedness.
  • Contentment with our position, forgiveness to others.
  • And over it all, clothing ourselves in love, real love.

Prayer:

Father, Please help me to be more intentional in dressing myself, my God-redeemed self, in the clothing you picked out and provided for me. Help me, during my quiet time with you each day before I go out to face the challenges of the world, to do a clothing check and make sure I’m wearing the appropriate attire for the day. I want to walk around dressed in the garments of a child of God.