“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 NIV

A snowy morning clothed beautifully in the glory of  Jesus!

The above verses are written by the Apostle Paul to the Christian church at Colossus. He gives them an image, a mental picture, to remind them to “put on” the characteristics of Jesus just like we put on clothes!

Paul tells them, and us, that we need to “clothe” ourselves with:

Compassion – to have concern or pity for someone else’s hurts and troubles and to want to help them

Kindness – to be friendly, generous and considerate of others

Humility – to not be proud, thinking more of others than ourselves

Gentleness – to be calm, kind and careful of others’ feelings and problems

Patience – to be able to accept delay, trouble or hurt without getting angry or upset

Forgiveness – to decide to not be angry or want to “get back” at someone who hurt you or did something wrong, to pardon them

Love – to care deeply for others and their needs, to try to treat others the same way that God and Jesus love us

This week I want you to try to “clothe” yourself with all the virtues of Jesus! When you put on your shirt, you put on compassion, your pants are patience, your socks are kindness and humility, your shoes are gentleness and forgiveness. And lastly, your jacket is love.

Draw a picture of you “clothed” in the characteristics of Jesus. Share it with your parents. Talk about how you tried to treat other people like Jesus did, with the virtues that Paul listed. Did being “clothed” help you to remember?

Blessings as you try to be more like Jesus, “clothed” in His love for everyone!