One thing that I have found helps in this life of isolation, chronic illness, and disability is to get up and dressed every day. Yes, the simple act of getting up and dressed can make a huge difference in the day. Getting up and dressed is a pain-tolerance exercise most days. Some days, it is also a fatigue-tolerance exercise. (NOTE: And, yes, there are a few days that getting dressed is impossible. Please know that I understand if you are at that place. However, as often as possible, I fight to dressed.)

So, why do I do it? My dad used to encourage us that the way we dressed would affect our productivity. Dress nicely and you will act accordingly. Getting dressed and ready for the day even when I am not going anyplace is important to doing as much as I can. It is important to feeling more “human.” It helps me be productive even if that day’s productivity is quite minimal, only survival tasks.

I was listening to one of my favorite book series when my ears perked up. The main character was reading Colossians 3:12-14, “¹² Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. ¹⁴ And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”

What if I asked God to help me get “dressed” spiritually each day. What if I purposely put on (with God’s help) everything described in the verses above as well as Romans 13:14, Ephesians 4:22-24, and Ephesians 6:10-18. How would it affect my day? How would it affect yours?

I think that if we purposely put on these things each morning as we spend time with our Savior, our days would be much different. I believe it would change our days spiritually (and possibly the days of those around us, ahem…) as much as getting up and dressed does. What do you think?

Side note: The book series that I referenced is a series that my mom and I discovered in the Pandemic. We love listening to audio books. This series caught our interest as the characters live their lives learning to love God, His Word, and people more. The books show the messy of everyday life and being involved in peoples’ lives. Yet, the series then shows how God works and how they turn to God. The series is available on Kindle, in paperback, and some on Audible. The series was used of God to draw me closer to Himself.