To Dress For Success Put On God’s Amazing Love by Babs Kincaid

     To be dressed for success, you need to put on God’s amazing love. That may sound strange to some of you. God says it the best way: “But above these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” Colossians 3:14 From Strong’s Concordance the word bond in the Greek means “a joint tie or uniting principle.” From Strong’s Concordance, the word perfection means “completeness.” From Strong’s Concordance, the word love is “agape love i.e. affection or benevolence. David Nelmes defines agape love in these terms: “- unconditional love that is always giving and impossible to take or be a taker. It devotes total commitment to seek your highest best no matter how anyone may respond. This form of love is totally selfless and does not change whether the love given is returned or not. This is the original and only true form of love.” No wonder Jesus is the best example of this sacrificial love and the role model for us to be triumphant in whatever we do. Agape Love is the uniting principle that brings completeness in any relationship because it always seeks the other person’s highest good.

In God’s lens, one’s achievement or victory is not about a person’s clothes, it’s about their character. Consider God’s instruction: “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—  but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.” 1 Peter 3:3-4 According to Strong’s concordance this spirit is described as humble and peaceable. Once again God places the emphasis on the internal heart of a person and not their outward attire. “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

When I was a young believer in Christ I encountered a challenge that put Colossians 3:14 to the test. Not long after I became a follower of Christ, God provided me with a wise and loving Christian mentor. Yea God!!!!! I was struggling with dealing with a difficult and unpleasant boss, so I sought the counsel of my compassionate mentor. After we prayed together my mentor gave me a surprising and peculiar advice. I couldn’t believe what she told me to do. She said “Go buy a box of donuts and attach a sticky note with a smiley face with the words ‘Have a nice day.’ “Are you crazy?” I said? My objections were a mile long! I was getting upset! “You don’t know how unkind he is!” I whined and argued with my wonderful mentor at length, but she was unwilling to change her position. She asked me if I wanted to improve my relationship with my boss or keep it toxic. She asked me if I wanted to follow Christ’s model of love and forgiveness or my model of hate and judgment. Ouch! Our debate ended with my mentor telling me to pray about it! Somehow I had a feeling she had just won our debate!  Now I had to pray and debate with my Mighty God over my dilemma with my boss. It was a much shorter and calmer discussion and I didn’t have a chance to win. Duh!

 The next day I timidly walked into the office trusting God’s love to show up big time! My reality was I was carrying tons of fear and trembling! I was unsure if my boss would blow up or not! I was anticipating at the least, he loved donuts and was hungry! I could predict my boss might get angry so I was a bit on edge and I dreaded the outcome! As instructed, I put a note on the donut box “Have a nice day” with a smiley face and reluctantly wrote my name. Upon his early arrival, he called me into his office. My heart was beating so fast I hoped he couldn’t hear it! Oh no, time for the showdown! I was regretting my decision in my head! Being overly nervous, I spoke first. I said humbly, “If I have done anything to upset you, I am asking you to please forgive me. I just want to clear the air.” To my surprise, my boss immediately spoke up and said, “I am the one who should be asking you to forgive me.” What a shocker! I was totally caught off guard on that one. The rest of the conversation became a blur but I was so relieved it went well! From that moment on our relationship remained in the positive zone! Yea God!!!

It is a good thing I didn’t put on a necklace of pride that day or my victorious breakthrough would never have happened.  A necklace of self-righteousness would have kept me stuck in bondage to deception and sin. In Psalm 73 in a unique description about wicked people this statement echoes that truth: “when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles;…Therefore pride is their necklace.” Psalm 73:3b, 4a, 6a God’s view of pride is chilling: “The Lord detests the proud of heart..” Proverbs 16:5a I would rather be set free from pride than stuck deep in it and offending God!

My relationship with my boss turned a page that day because I put on love when I got dressed for work. Yea God! My Godly mentor wasn’t the least surprised to hear my good news. That was a day of great celebration for me! God had provided me with the perfect mentor and had anointed her instruction to me.  Now I am not advocating that donuts are the answer to every broken relationship! Duh!!! God doesn’t work the same way in every situation, but He is the one who knows how to restore your dysfunctional relationship. Without a doubt, my mentor got her wisdom from the Wonderful Counselor! I am so thankful I listened and took the leap of faith to dress in love! God wasn’t taken by surprise either by my victory! Wow, what a win for God!!!! With God, love always wins! The donuts were just a perk in the line of duty and how sweet it was!!!! Yea God!!!!!