Colossians 3:12. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

So, is that a new outfit you are wearing?  I don’t know of a woman on earth who doesn’t love new clothes!  There is just something so fantastic about getting dressed and feeling like a million bucks because of that new outfit you just put on.  Women love to look beautiful and there is nothing wrong with that.  We love the story of Cinderella and her beautiful ball gown and I love the movie “Gone With The Wind” and all of the beautiful Southern Bell dresses……. From a tiny toddler to a woman who is over 100 years old, we never lose that desire to look beautiful, it is embedded deep within our souls.  No matter what those clothes look like that you are putting on though, they cannot cover up what your heart is clothed with!

Just like you choose what you will wear today, you choose how you will clothe your heart!  Will you put on “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” or will you put on self-centeredness, hatefulness, anger, selfishness, and frustration?  You have a choice every day, just like you do when you look in your closet ~ will you allow God to fill your heart, or is it going to be too full of you for Him to fit?  

Life can get so crazy if you allow it to, and you can get to the point where you don’t even seem to have time for God anymore.  You mean to, but goodness, by the time you take care of the kids, get your husband off to work, maybe go to work yourself or tackle the day of being a stay-at-home mom, there’s just nothing left.  You must take care of yourself!  Even if you must eliminate one activity from your life so you can take the time to take care of yourself, you need to do it!  Your children are not going to somehow be deprived if they aren’t involved in every activity known to man!  There’s a lot to be said for a lack of scheduling and activity outside the home ~ family time must take precedence, all of those lessons and activities can be rearranged or maybe even put off to a later date.  Take some time for yourself.  Maybe your best time alone with God right now is a quiet bath, with some candles and some praise and worship music playing softly while your husband watches a movie with the kids.  Spending time with God doesn’t have to be a labored effort, enjoy Him by relaxing with Him and allowing Him to refresh you and speak to your heart.  It is much more difficult to be pleasant when you are frazzled trying to keep up with life, never having a moment for yourself!

So before you get dressed each day, stop and think about what you can do in order to clothe yourself spiritually as well. would encourage you today, to schedule some time to focus on yourself and your quiet time with God.  You need to be taking care of yourself in order to be all you can be for Him.  He doesn’t expect you to be some sort of wonder woman, He cares about you and your well-being!  Find Him in the quietness of some much-needed time alone, even if it is only 20 minutes in the tub!  You must refresh yourself if you want to be the gracious woman He created you to be!  

Quote: “Each of us will one day be judged by our standard of life, not by our standard of living; by our measure of giving, not by our measure of wealth; by our simple goodness, not by our seeming greatness.”  ~William Arthur Ward