PUTTING ON THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST

14 weeks. That's how long our life group "semester" will last. So as a first-time leader of any type of life group, small group, discussion group, bible study, etc... naturally, my first thought was: "What in the world am I thinking?!  I can't come up with 14 topics to talk about and keep people interested!" So, I recruited a little help from my friends (thanks Breezy & Denise) who have more experience with this stuff and decided to base our discussions on the book "The Fitting Room: Putting on the Character of Christ" by Kelly Minter.

If you are on the fence about whether or not you want to join us on Sunday nights and are now thinking "Great, now I'm going to have to buy a book and read every week?", first let me point out a few things:

• This is absolutely not a requirement. However, it is encouraged simply because so far I think it is a fabulous book. Kelly Minter's casual and modern writing style is an incredibly easy read, she keeps you interested, the chapters are pretty short, and...most importantly...she can put thoughts into words MUCH better than I can.
• Not reading the book will certainly not put you behind in the discussion. This book is about real issues that we face daily and we will have plenty to talk about whether or not you read. I promise.
• Discussion time will not be overwhelmingly long. I plan to chit-chat and sample recipes for about 30 minutes, take prayer requests and have prayer time for the next 10 minutes or so, and then discuss that week's chapter for another 20-30 minutes. Following the book just gives us some encouraging discussion topics that will help facilitate our discussions which will hopefully help us become better women, wives, mothers, sisters, friends, coworkers...together...which is the purpose of the whole group!!
• There is no homework or workbook. It's just a simple read. One chapter per week. Starting on August 26th. We will not start the book discussion until the 2nd week.

So, let's get to the good stuff. What is this book all about?

I don't want to give too much away, but here are just a few excerpts to give you a taste:

• "Our dress is an expression of ourselves, a statement of our personalities or moods. We dress up, we dress down, we dress for comfort, we kill ourselves in high heels to dress for style...but what about the dress of our souls? What about the way our character clothes us? And our character does clothe us. We give off far more than we will ever know by the way we greet the [waitress], drive in traffic, enter a room, answer the phone, glare at our toddler who's having a meltdown in a non-meltdown-friendly environment."
• "I want to pull from the comparison the apostle Paul set in motion in a letter to the Colossians: 'Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience' (3:12). A few verses earlier he writes, 'You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator' (vv. 9-10). The image of clothing, the picture of slipping out of the old and sliding into the new, is an easily digestible concept because we dress every day."
• "The very essence of biblical virtues is that they're only virtues when they're being tested: Patience is not patience if someone or something is not trying it. Forgiveness is not forgiveness if there is no offense to pardon. Humility is not humility if a person never has to bow."
• "Human natures don't meld with the character of Christ. But leaving the old behind can be surprisingly liberating, because it leaves us poised to wear the virtues we will explore in the pages ahead: forgiveness, peace, kindness, humility, compassion, and patience, with a sassy feather of joy in our hats. Virtues that won't mysteriously disappear when the clock strikes twelve, ones that will actually be there when we need them."

I hope you are as excited about August 19th as I am! I can't wait to get to know all of you ladies better as we sample some tasty recipes and share life together. I leave you tonight with two things:

1. A picture of my dog, Buddy, the day after we adopted him almost a year ago. Look at that smile!

2. The word of God. In Mark 8:38, Jesus says "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." That's powerful stuff. Thank you Lord for your word. Thank you for coming down from heaven and giving your life, willingly, so that we may live with you in eternity. Help us to take off the sin of this world and clothe ourselves daily with your character.