Clothe Yourself

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Colossians 3:12

I read recently that Albert Einstein once said, “The problem with the speed of light is it comes too early in the morning!” I’m with you, Albert. To say that I am not a morning person would be a gross understatement.

Once, when I was teaching at a women’s conference, I shared a room with a friend who is very much a morning person. Somehow she has the ability to pop out of bed as if she has been awake for hours. This particular morning was no exception. When the alarm went off at 6:30 she popped out of bed and exploded into joyful conversation, which, I must add, remained one-sided. The sand in my eyes and the gravel in my throat did not allow for mutual participation. But conversation or no conversation, we had a conference that morning, so we both proceeded to get dressed. 

Every morning, whether you are a morning person (or not so much), you must clothe yourself. It’s an intentional act we all do in preparation for our day. In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he speaks of clothing ourselves with the attributes of Christ: tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 

Every morning we should rise out of bed, even if a second or third cup of coffee is necessary to make us human again, and clothe ourselves with these things. It’s an intentional act that we are all capable of because God chose us to be the holy people he loves.