How Much Of A Put On Are You?

14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom;
teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Put on involves responsibility. We're careful about our appearance. We decide what to wear; we look at our hair. We make a choice. Paul exhorts us to put it on. We must wear the attributes of Jesus and this new person we have become. The new birth is a miracle by the power of God. That miracle extends to us everyday; we need God's help each day as we make the choice to wear the old person or the new person. God dealt with us until we accepted him. He did not rest. He choose us and whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He wanted us for heaven. He made us new within our heart and soul. Where sin was ingrained is where Jesus went.

Put on enables us each day to be the new person he made us. We are a child of the King. Some days we wake us tired and don't feel well. Some days we're down and out. We get low; we have hard days. This does not mean we are not saved. Being saved is not dependent upon our feelings. Trusting Jesus is what saves us. Verse 11 says it makes no difference who we are. You don't have Jesus anymore than I do. Jesus saved us all to the uttermost. WE CAN ALL LIVE IN VICTORY EVERYDAY.

This new person is a good person. When our hearts and minds get with Jesus we are cleansed. We are not perfect but cleansed. Verse 12 tells us that God says to put on the attributes he has imparted to us–mercy, kindness, humbleness, meekness, long-suffering. We have the ability to share with others each of these. Verse 13 goes on to say we should forebear one another. It is a choice to forgive. We don't have the power to cleanse, but we do have the choice and the grace to forgive. We have grace because of his mercy. We are to put up with each other. There is too much endurance in the world for us to endure each other. Verse 14 says ABOVE all put on charity–love each other. IT'S A GOD-SO-LOVED-THE-WORLD-LOVE. This is what should be in our heart. Verse 15 says if we put on all these, we can have peace. There is a lot to worry about; the devil makes sure of that. We can still have peace.

Something has to dwell in us before these can be outside us. What makes the difference, what makes us ever new, is the same Word we had in the first Bible we owned. The road is not always smooth; sometimes it is rough. It's tough in a lot of ways. BUT the same WORD, the same ANCHOR, sustains us. IT IS THE WORD OF JESUS. Verse 16 says this Word will teach and admonish us. It is an instant encouragement for us. Then we will sing songs with grace. Let God's Word dwell in us from head to toe. Receive it and shine!

Verse 17 tells us that what we do each day, what life brings, what crossroads we come to…we can do it in the name of Jesus. He then says to give thanks. We can always find something to be thankful for. Paul wrote many times about being thankful. God will bless and honor the thankful heart. We are blessed with each other. We have the privilege to have the truth in us.