December 3rd

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 3:14

Right before this verse, Paul shares about how we are to live in Christ. That we are now people who are aware of the life we once lived and desire the life that is found in Christ. But what does that life look like? Now that we may have rid ourselves of some things, what do we fill ourselves with? What do we clothe ourselves in? Paul shares that it looks like putting on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. It looks like forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven us. And of all these things, the binding agent—the unifying ingredient that brings it all together—is love. We are to "put on love," not just live as people who love, or have an idea of love, but to truly be people who have put on love in every part of our being. It is the garment we wear; it is the very thing that covers us and expresses who we are in Christ.

But just like the jacket you put on this morning before leaving for work, we must choose to be clothed in love. We have to choose to pick up the garment of love and clothe ourselves in it daily, or else we will inevitably be clothed in something else. We will wear whatever we hold highest in our lives, which, on many days, may not be love.

It’s easy, at the end of the year, to hold many things higher than living out Christ’s love in our lives. We may prioritize how well we did this year, what we achieved, how much money we made, what goals we hit, and so on—things that seem greater than the virtues we are called to wear in Christ. But as we see in this passage, the things we are called to hold the highest have everything to do with our relationships and how we love and little to do with how we work, success, goals, or ambitions. So, as we begin this Advent season, let us be reminded that no matter what this year has looked like—whether we achieved or didn’t achieve our goals, whether our to-do list is long or short, or what we have on our plate in the weeks ahead—we still have the choice of what virtues we will wear and how we will love today. That is the greatest reflection of how this year has gone: How am I reflecting these virtues, and how am I wearing love in my life?

-Grace Hazelgrove