Friday, July 15, 2016

July 16, 2016

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14

When I played ball in high school and later in college, I was not allowed to wear whatever I wanted to wear to our ballgames. I was told what to wear by my coach and my school.

They provided uniforms for us to wear so our fans, the officials and even other team mates would know which team they belonged to.

When I was in high school we had a dress code for daily classes. The school did not tell us exactly what we had to wear but the told us what we couldn't wear.

What you wear is significant in that people identify you or even judge you based on what you wear. Your wardrobe can reveal who you are.

No wonder the Apostle Paul admonished the Christians at Colossi (and modern Christians by extension) to "clothe themselves"in a way that identifies you as a follower of Christ.

Since other teams identify themselves by how they're dressed, Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says they must be able to be readily identified as a Christ-follower by the attitudes and virtues that adorn their lives.

So, how should a Christ-follower dress? What should you put on so that everyone can recognize you as a Christ-follower without you having to say a word or quote a verse?

Paul identifies five attitudes that when tailored from the fabric of love will "clothe" you as a follower of Christ!

Over the next several I will give you more detail on each of these five "clothing characteristics" of a Christ follower. For now, I will list them.

Compassion is commanded of those who follow Christ. 

Are you a compassionate person? If not, keep following!

Kindness is commanded of those who follow Christ.

If kindness is not your nature, keep following Christ.

Humility is is a must for those who claim to follow Christ. If you struggle with humility keep following Christ!

Christ followers must be gentle people. If you are not always gentle or if you are afraid of being gentle, keep following Jesus!

Paul insists on patience for those who are followers of Christ. Do you struggle with patience?

If you struggle with patience keep following Jesus!

If you want to be clothed like Jesus stay close to Jesus!

Follow!