“Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
Colossians 3:12
A few years ago I was thinking about this verse and wrote a few thoughts about it.
The writer starts out with ‘therefore’.
Most pastors say, whenever this word is written, it means, now listen, pay attention, this is very important.
So we are not to miss the fact that we are God’s chosen people.
That is a wonderful promise and thought.
Not only did he choose us, he admonishes us to put on spiritual clothing so others can see Him through us.
Then the writer goes on to say, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, you are to clothe yourselves.
For me that means we have a choice to present ourselves in a way for others to see; it is purposeful.
It is an action word such as putting on a sweater or zipping up a hoodie or throwing a blanket on yourself when you are feeling cold on the couch.
So what does this really mean for us?
It is about attributes that we represent and share.
Dictionary.com says: Attribute is quality or characteristic of something (something we believe in).
SO as we get up in the morning and get ready for our day.
We can ask ourselves.
Do I want to wear the red sweater and black pants,
or do I put on compassion.
Do I want to wear the denim shirt with the denim pants,
or do I put on kindness.
Do I want to wear the soft flannel shirt with flannel pants,
or do I put on humility.
Do I want to wear the frumpy pants with the frumpy shirt,
or do I put on gentleness.
Do I want to have a dress up day and wear something fancy,
or do I put on patience.
Just as we wrap the love of the Lord around us we also choose
to wrap around ourselves his attributes.
The characteristic and quality of who He is.
It is not often natural for us to be compassionate or kind, humble or gentle; and it is not natural for us to be patient either.
It must be a choice for us.
Just as we get up in the morning and decide how we are going to look and dress for the day,
we also choose how we are going to present ourselves.
It is a heavy thought to know that what we choose; is what others see and believe about us.
I think for today, it is something for us to think about.
(this is a revision of one written in 2010 taken from the old books)