Put On Love

Series: Love

Colossians 3:14 ESV

Just like putting clothes on in the morning, remember to ask God to give you love to put on. When you ask know that you will receive an answer but it may not be the answer you expected.

Colossians 3:14, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Sometimes it’s so simple it’s crazy.

Take today for example. I have a regular art time that I attend twice a week. I love everyone in the class and I look forward to going every time we meet. I’ve never had a day when I woke up and thought about dreading to go to art class. Every time I wake up and remember it’s art day I’m excited about going, doing art, and seeing my friends.

Today was no different.

Except…I had an issue I needed to deal with about an hour before class. It wasn’t something I could ignore until class was over.

Well, one thing led to another and the issue took longer than I expected. And, it was something a little unsettling. When life gets like that, drawing always calms me down and gets me in a better frame of mind. So I stowed away by myself for just a minute.

Today I had to do a few digital sketches and I started working on those. I’m not sure why, but digital sketches always take longer than paper and pencil sketches and before I knew it class time was almost finished.

By the time I get to art class almost everyone was gone.

That made me sad.

I let everyone know I was so busy drawing that I missed drawing class.

I was pretty upset that I missed class and so I prayed about it. God knows I really hate it when I mess up and lose track of time.

I tend to punish myself.

When I mess up I hear a voice from long ago in the back of my head telling me I am bad for messing up and missing class.

I punish myself.

I continue punishing myself and I try to formulate a plan so I won’t mess up again.

Eventually I go to God and tell God I’m sorry I messed up.

God smiles at me.

God reminds me of the scripture for today.

Put on love.

Put love on yourself.

Receive my peace.

Missing art class, even when I really really wanted to go is not the most horrible thing that could happen.

It’s like God is telling me, “little one…stop punishing yourself.”

In truth, it’s really hard for me not to punish myself. I’ve always punished myself when I mess up.

Always.

So, I sit with God and I let Jesus hold me for a long while. I stay in that place long enough that I can receive God’s love and forgive myself for messing up.

All the while I know that I am much harder on myself than I would be on anyone else. If someone else missed class I would tell them I missed them but they are okay. I would remind them everyone misses things from time to time…it just means we are human.

So, why can I tell someone else that when I can’t tell myself the same thing?

I don’t know the answer to that question, but fortunately I know who knows.

So, I give it to God. I ask God to help me forgive myself for messing up. I ask God to teach me to give myself grace.

I know God will answer that prayer…in time.

Spiritual Practice: Forgive

Are you able to forgive yourself when you mess up? If you struggle with it, ask God to help you.

In God, Deborah

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