A Finely Decorated Temple

I'm a woman who likes clothes. I admit it. I'm a lover of fashion. As Sarah Jessica Parker would put it- " I like my money where I can see it- hanging in my closet".  I like to look nice. Our bodies are temples, and I like mine to be  decorated. Some may call me bougie, then after learning about my affinity to thrift store blazers may label me boughetoo, but I simply claim to take pride in my appearance.

Many of my mornings are spent in front of my closet. And whenever I get dressed, I like to base my outfit upon a theme.

Some mornings I may crave a hipster look, taking me back to my Emerson days,

Or something a little more sophisticated.

I might want a little Troop 3888 throwback,

or I may want to express my more outlandish side.

I may just want to emulate my favorite southern butter loving hero,

or since I am in grad school, I may strive to be a bit more professional.

Either way, every morning I get up, and make a conscious effort on how I look and what I put on. And tonight, when I was reading Colossians 3, I discovered a theme I may miss some mornings when I'm getting ready for my day.

Love.

That's right. Love. It says in Colossians 3 " above all these virtues, put on love".

To love is a conscious effort, as planned out as the clothes we put on in the morning.

I forget this sometimes. I think since I'm a Christian, and since the God that loves me dearly lives inside of me that to love others would be easy. And really, it's just not. Anyone that tells you otherwise is lying.

Sometimes people make you mad. And sometimes people annoy you. And sometimes people do things that are just rude and hateful and plain ol' rotten.

And let's not pretend that it's always other people's faults. Sometimes we're having a bad hair day and that alone puts us over the ledge. Sometimes we are so wrapped up in our own problems that we treat other in a way that no one deserves.  Just because we love Jesus doesn't mean that hearts and rainbows and unicorns ooze from our pores. And it doesn't mean that we always love in the way we should.

But, I wonder how much different my day would be, if I got up, opened my closet and along with my sophisticated southern themed outfit of the day, I put on love. And as I applied the mascara that guaranteed my lashes to be 4 times the volume that they were when I woke up, I took a moment, and made a decision to put on love. So that way, when the person in front of me in class makes you me stupid, or I get cut off in traffic, or I'm just having a bad day where everything is going wrong, I will be reminded that I, along with the clothes and the makeup and the finely coiffed bangs, put on love. And maybe it might make loving just a little easier.

Love is not an accident. It's a conscious decision everyday.