I remember so well the time God implanted this truth about being properly dressed in my heart. It came as a discipline in my own life, and it has been life-changing for me. It's something we can remember and relate to, and so I want to share it with you, praying that God will use it in your life, as he has and does in mine.

The wardrobe that I want to talk about is found in Colossians the third chapter:

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. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful (Colossians 3:12-15).

These are the special garments intended by God for each of us to wear, and as Christians, we have a unique opportunity to be lights in our working worlds, in our families, and everywhere we go by learning how to wear these beautiful clothes. Let's look more closely at these inner garments which we need to "put on."

COMPASSION: This can be described as a deep feeling of sharing the suffering of another. You know, it's not hard to find suffering people these days. There is mental, physical, and emotional suffering everywhere, and undoubtedly you have suffering people all around you where you work and live. Are you aware of their suffering?

It seems to me that all too often I am quick to blame people and judge them without stopping to think of what they have endured, or why they are the way they are. That's especially easy to do at our jobs. If you’re not careful, you can judge your fellow workers without really understanding their suffering.

Let me assure you that compassion will look good on your job. If you wear it, you won't be so quick to condemn or judge. You'll give people room to make mistakes. Your prayer list will get longer because when you care about people, you pray for them. I encourage you to pray for the people you work with. When you do, you’ll discover that you feel much more compassionate toward them. Yes, indeed, we need to wear compassion on our jobs.

KINDNESS: Kindness is the second garment in the closet of a well-dressed Christian. Have you been too busy to wear kindness lately? Maybe, like me, you take it on and off, depending on your mood, or who you're with. Sometimes we are least kind to the people nearest to us. We seem to forget that it’s important to be kind to those people we work with every day. Sometimes we seem to save our kind behavior for people we don't see very often, as though it were in short supply. God has plenty of it, so wear it to work every day. You'll look terrific!

HUMILITY: Third in this special wardrobe is humility. The world often gives negative connotations to humility, as though it were an undesirable characteristic. It is often viewed as weakness or wimpy. Rarely do we think of humility as a necessity for getting to the top in the business world.

But that's an incorrect assessment of true humility. The Bible defines humility as a lack of pride and an awareness of who we are in comparison to who God is. God hates pride; it's the number one sin at the top of the list of things he hates. One of the indicators of humility is a teachable attitude. The person who is always willing to learn, to change, to take good advice is a truly humble person.

GENTLENESS: And then we come to gentleness. I am always overwhelmed with the amazing gentleness of Jesus Christ. Oh, how we need to wear his gentleness every day. We need that gentle and quiet spirit, which the Apostle Peter tells us should be our adornment, and which is precious in the sight of God.

Are your words tough or harsh on your job or at home? Do you have a sharp tongue or hasty actions that pierce and hurt people b...