Wearing the Christian Uniform

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.” (Colossians 3:12 —13 NAB)

Uniforms are a common sight. We see workers at fast food restaurants, service stations, mechanics at the car dealership, and FedEx and UPS drivers wearing their company colors. We associate the branches of military service by the uniforms they wear with pride.There are even companies that clean and deliver uniforms. It’s big business! You might even wear a uniform on your job.

We spend money to purchase the uniform jersey of our favorite football, basketball, or baseball players. We associate the uniform to our loyalty to our favorite teams and players. Go to a baseball game and the majority of fans are wearing the colors of their favorite team.

Yes, uniforms are everywhere!

What about the Christian uniform? Are you willing to put it on? In Colossians, Paul asks us to “put on” or “clothe” ourselves in compassion, kindness, gentleness and patience.

It’s not an external uniform but an internal one. It’s how we treat people in our interactions every day. But like the jersey of our favorite team it says something about us as individuals. We take on the personality of the team.

When we put on the uniform of Christ we stand out. There is something different about us; something appealing. We put the feelings of others first. Jesus is alive in us.

We are always kind because we never know what the other person is going through. We are humble knowing that everything we have is from God.

We are gentle and not overbearing. We have patience with people especially those people that require a little extra time because of a mental or physical challenge.

So how are you doing with these five attributes? Are you falling short on one or two? I know I am. Patience is my downfall! Yours might be another.

Paul gives us the way to better clothe ourselves in our Christian uniform, forgiveness. We all have faults, fall short of the mark. We need to ask for forgiveness and when we fail keep the Word of God as our playbook. We need to forgive others teammates who fail short as well.

Remember as Christians we wear two uniforms; the external uniform of our work or play and the internal uniform of our faith.

Let’s wear our Christian uniform with compassion, humility, kindness, gentleness, and patience.

If you enjoyed this story, you can have Tony’s latest story delivered to your email every Monday morning, and not miss a single one. Simply subscribe by clicking here. You will be sent an e-mail to verify your subscription. Just click on the link and you’re all set.

Thank you for sharing my stories with your family and friends. Below are links to share on your social media sites.