Don’t Leave Home Without It

ByJim Stephens

Scripture: Colossians 3

 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. (Col 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. (Colossians 3:5-11 MSG). Then he goes on to describe our new-life attitudes and behavior being like a “wardrobe God picked out for us.”

…You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. (Colossians 3:9-10 MSG)

Before we leave the house to go to work, or shopping, or to church, or to a party, we change out of our dirty “doing-chores clothes” or our well-worn “around-the-house” jeans and sweatshirt. We must also choose daily to strip off the old filthy set of old-life-attitude clothes and choose daily to put on the new-life-attitude wardrobe God has picked out for us.

Just like the daily “putting on God’s armor” Paul wrote about 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, quick 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 rest of the world, to do a clothing check and make sure I’m wearing the appropriate dress for the day. I want to walk around dressed in the garments of a child of God.