At the end of each college semester, Diane and I had different routines of dealing with final exams. She would show up for finals dressed brightly with her hair and makeup all done. I would show up in flip-flops, ragged jeans, a T-shirt, and a ballcap over tousled hair.
Yes, I said tousled hair.
For both of us, it was our different ways of dealing with the stress of the exams. She dressed like she was excited to be there, and I dressed like I didn’t care how I did on the test. Both approaches worked for us. I graduated cum laude and she graduated summa cum laude.
In Colossians 3:12-14, Paul tells us that how we dress contributes to our success in life. “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience,” he wrote, adding, “And over all these virtues put on love.”
Church relationships are hard. I’m sure you’ve read the corny old poem before:
To live above with those we love,
Oh, that will be glory;
To live here below with those we know—
Well, that’s another story!
But you have only two choices as a Christian. You can avoid conflict with others by doing nothing in God’s kingdom, or you can risk conflict by ministering in God’s kingdom. Tension will occasionally appear when people serve God together. So, our souls should be wearing certain attitudes like clothing: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love.
We looked at this subject in last Sunday’s sermon. (Watch it here.) Now that we’ve reached the halfway point in the week, it’s a good time to review what items are missing from our wardrobe.
Tom
P.S., thank you for your interest in my novel! I ran out of books last week, but I’ll have plenty this Sunday during the coffee fellowship after the service. Or just email me to arrange a pickup in Austin. If you don’t live in Austin and you want a signed copy of the book, order directly from me at this site (U.S. orders only). For other options, I have a list of vendors at my website.
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