1. Dress Accordingly

Have you ever seen someone exercising in the wrong clothes?

A few months ago, I went running with a more experience runner for the first time (I won’t say who).  I immediately noticed that we were dressed completely different.  He was wearing a t-shirt and shorts; I was wearing long pants and a hooded sweatshirt.  Four miles into the run, we found out who was right.  And he explained to me that when you run, you should dress as though it were 20 degrees warmer than it actually is.

Dressing accordingly isn’t just important for exercise, but is essential for our spiritual wellbeing.

Colossians 3:12

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

 
What’s the first thing you do when you get up?  Maybe it’s the second or third thing you do.  But some point early on in our day, we put our clothes on.  How many of us clothe ourselves spiritually before we walk out the door?  I’m going to guess that most of us walk out the door in the morning naked.  Spiritually naked.  And then we’re not prepared when we’re a victim of road rage on 590, or there’s a crisis at work, or a coworker tests our patience.  Some days, it’s just one bad thing after the next.  The car won’t start, the kids get sick at school, you get a bad grade, you receive an upsetting phone call or email.

If you walk out the door physically naked, you aren’t going to get very far before something awful happens.

If you walk out the door spiritually naked, you aren’t going to get very far either.

So what am I suggesting?  I’m suggesting that we clothe ourselves spiritually before leaving the house in the morning.  The second you wake up, pray, “Lord, no matter what happens today, I’m going to live for you.”  Then ask God to fill your heart and clothe you with “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  Because four miles down the road, it’s going to be 20 degrees hotter.  And if we’re clothed with “compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience” when that crisis hits, we’re going to handle it in a way that honors God.  So just take 30 seconds each morning to clothe yourself, to dedicated your day to God, and ask for His strength.