Dress Wisely~

Goooooooooood afternoon:)

 

 

Yesterday's DEVO really struck a chord, and I thank you all for your fine comments! Let's revisit some of the highlights.

 

Colossians 3:12-14 says, "...dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered...quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it."

 

When Rayray was five years old she went through a pink Power Ranger phase. She had the costume, and would wear it as often as she could. Some days it was a struggle getting her to put on her school uniform. Sunday mornings were sometimes difficult as she would already be wearing her special outfit when I would go in to wake her up. It was not easy negotiating with that child, and over the years I have learned to embrace her strong will as a gift from God. (More on that a later date).

 

But wouldn't it be grand if we were all as zealous and eager to dress in the wardrobe God has picked out for us? If you look closely at the verse, we actually have a choice. If God is encouraging us to dress ourselves in kindness could it be that sometimes we choose to wear rudeness or nastiness instead?

 

Before I point the finger at anyone else I point it to me. Most days I think I start off with a lovely blouse of beauty and pants of praise, shoes of sweetness, and even a frock of friendliness. And then something irritates me, like the dentist who could not find what was causing Jorgie's toothache and said to me in front of my crying and desperate son that it was, "Psychosomatic."

 

I immediately shed the jeans of joy and put on some highly threatening threads saying, among other things as I stormed out, "You shouldn't blame my son because you are an incompetent, unqualified quack!" The last image I have of that poor man is him with his head hanging down low on his desk.

 

But wait, it gets worse. I took Jorgie to an endodonist who promptly diagnosed the problem by determining there was a lack of oxygen in the tooth, so he drilled a small hole in the tooth and voila! pain gone.

 

Shouldn't I have been relieved that Jorgie was finally out of pain and just leave the thing alone? Yes, but when the endodonist explained how easily he diagnosed the problem and how the dentist could have done the same, I called back for round two. I know. I should have let it go.

 

But sometimes we are as stubborn as a kindergartener who wants what she wants when she wants it.

 

We adults, I suppose, can have temper tantrums too.

 

But guess what? Each and every morning we get a brand new opportunity to get dressed. Let's make sure the garments of beauty fit snugly so they are not so easily shed.

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline, and even-temperedness? That's a lot to ask! Have you seen what we have to deal with? Maybe dressing ourselves with these attributes, however, actually improves our quality of life. By faith we can say that choosing to wrap ourselves in this godly wardrobe winds up being the bigger blessing than the momentary satisfaction of speaking our mind. Minister to us today with Your goodness that we might be so full and filled with You that others will want to dress the same way; the world will be a better place because of it. In Jesus' name, AMEN~