what do followers of jesus wear

​It’s August (wow!) and that means we’re halfway through our summer message series, Follow. This past weekend, in week 4 of the series, we looked at the question: what do followers of Jesus wear?--not in terms of their clothing or physical appearance, but in terms of what they “put on,” how they treat others and what qualities form their identity. St. Paul tells us that followers of Jesus clothe themselves in “heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12). What does each of these virtues really mean?

• Heartfelt compassion = feeling what other people are going through and experiencing on a deep level
• Kindness = loaning your strength to someone else
• Humility = seeing yourself as you really are, in relationship to other people and to God
• Gentleness = responding to others in light of their strengths and weaknesses instead of responding to others out of your strength
• Patience = deciding to operate at the speed of another person

The challenge for this week is to pick one virtue to focus on improving in the coming week. Did you pick one already? If so, how’s it going? If you didn’t pick one yet, today is a great day to pick one and start working on it. If you’re not sure what to pick or you feel stuck in taking a next step or making progress, offer that up to God in prayer today. Ask God to open your eyes to the situations and experiences in your daily life that are opportunities to grow in these virtues and for the courage to “clothe yourself” like Jesus.