Clothing Dilemma

Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds. Ephesians 4:21-23

Whenever I think about the above scripture I am visualizing clothing. I imagine taking off old, dirty, worn out clothes and putting on something new that makes me look great and feel great. Interesting enough this scripture really hit home with me this morning when I was dealing with my 6 year old.

I have always doubted my fashion sense. I didn't start wearing make-up until I was a senior in high school and still now there are a lot of days that I walk out the door without it on. (Thank you Jesus for clear skin). And I didn't carry a purse until I was a mom. . .so I am learning.

However, I have been blessed with a little 6 year old fashion diva. She makes up her mind about what she is going to wear before she finds out if it is clean. If it is not, the diva in her erupts and everyone wants to hide. She goes in phases, first it was her hair in a ponytail everyday for 6 months, then it was cowgirl boots, then flip flops, then a certain kind of socks and now. . .certain pants. (which were not clean this morning when she was getting ready for school.)

When all of this drama occurs before 8:00 a.m., it just isn't a great way to start the day. I am mad, she is mad. She goes to school with puffy eyes and a sniffly nose. And I spend the rest of my day beating myself up because I didn't handle the situation like I could have or should have.

So today after I got my girls to school and I started to think about how I could have handled things differently. I started thinking about Ephesians 4. It seems that every single day I have to wake up and once again take off my old self and put on my new self. Everyday I have to renew my mind and my attitude. If I don't take the time to ask Jesus to get me through every single day, my day seems to fall apart.

We had a discussion at Bible Study about why we so often hear the lies of the enemy, i.e. I am not good enough, I messed up again, I am a horrible mother. . . And the answer lies in 2 Corinthians 10:5, We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Every thought that runs through our minds must be taken captive and made obedient to Christ. Every lie that runs through our mind needs to compared to the truth of Christ. You are good enough, you are a wonderful mother and you need to forgive yourself. I so easily get distracted and start to believe the lies instead of focusing on the truth. I wish I didn't struggle with this so much, but I do.

In the book Captivating by Stasi Eldredge she says, "You are passionately loved by the God of the Universe. You are passionately hated by His enemy." I keep reminding myself that if I believe these lies, I am letting the enemy win and I am not willing to give him the satisfaction.

So next time you are struggling, take your thoughts captive and lean on the truth of Jesus Christ. Don't give Satan the satisfaction of controlling your thoughts. God is powerful and He has already won.