Dress in layers

It is six skinny little degrees outside this morning.  How can one survive in such temperatures?  In such a hostile climate, it is all in what you wear.

Dress in layers.

God directs us to do the same as we navigate through difficult situations, graceless environments and among those with whom we live.  Because in real life, what I wear and Whose name I bear not only affects me but impacts everyone around me.

Layer by layer by layer, not for an impervious shield, not for protection from the elements, but equipped to live and relate His love to others wherever God strategically places His own.  It is not for survival, but to thrive as He reveals your heart, even in a cold "climate."  God's love radiates through you.

Put on then,
as God's chosen ones,
               holy and beloved,
compassion,
kindness,
lowliness,
meekness,
and patience,
forbearing one another and,
if one has a complaint,
      forgiving each other...
And above all these
                     put on love,
which binds everything together
in perfect harmony.

                         Colossians 3.12-14