What an Honor

Colossians 3:12-15
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

The light of love.

Have you ever taken a personality test? When I was a teenager and read Teen magazine (a long time ago), I couldn’t wait to take the personality quizzes and find out who I was. Silly, I know, but at the time I thought one simple test could answer my longing questions of who I was meant to be. Fast forward several years, and I found myself once again faced with tests that helped determine my personality.

A part of me still enjoyed delving into questions at the institute where I worked to determine a bit more about me. At that point in life, I answered questions which helped me see what kind of employee I was or what kind of occupation I should immerse myself in. The answers and results from the occupation tests rang true. Most of them pointed me to counselor, librarian, teacher, or writer. Two out of four isn’t bad.

Regardless of where the man-made tests place me in life, my greatest desire is to immerse myself in who God created me to be. According to Colossians, God wants me to offer compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. What an honor! I can’t do this alone, so I depend on the Holy Spirit to prompt me to live in a way that shines God’s light. It’s a process of continued growth and understanding. I get frustrated sometimes, but I keep plugging away with prayer and hope. That’s all God asks.

Show compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love to the people you encounter. We don’t know their story or what they might be going through.