12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Colossians 3:12

Mother’s Day is only a few days away. Have you thought about what kind of gift you’re going to get mom this year? It’s going to be a lot more difficult this time around. All this quarantining and social distancing has put a real damper on our ability to go out and do any kind of meaningful shopping. But, maybe you are the type that plans ahead and you can proudly say that you already got mom a Mother’s Day card several days ago. Perhaps you were really proactive and ordered mom something online weeks ago and its already hiding out in the rafters or the basement until Sunday. Or, with all that’s been going on, could this be the year that you find yourself rushing out at the last minute, trying to find something nice out of the slim pickings that are left?

Either way, you don’t want what you give to mom to be something generic and plain. You want it to be special. You want what you present to her to convey the special love you feel for her. If it’s a gift, you want it to be something that she really likes, something that will bring her joy as she wears or uses it.

But, where can you find that one perfect gift that mom will really love? Well, this gift isn’t found by browsing through shelf after shelf of cards. You don’t have to bravely don a mask and shop aisle after aisle to find this gift. No, the perfect gift for mom can be found by letting your fingers do the walking…in the Bible….and turning to Colossians 3:12, 14, where the apostle Paul says:

12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

What is the perfect gift for mom? It’s “clothing” yourself each and every day with the new “clothes” that Jesus purchased and won for you. Mom will absolutely love it when you get decked out in “compassion” for her, sympathizing with her concerns and challenges. Imagine how thrilled she will be when you make it your mission to show little kindnesses to her: a hug, a kiss, an “I love you,” and helping out without being asked or expected to. She’ll greatly appreciate your humility in really listening to what she has to say, your gentleness is saying, “I understand,” your patience in getting to the heart of how she really feels.

This is the outfit mom has just been dying to see all of us wear. So, how much does it cost? Good news. It’s free! It’s ours through Jesus’ love. In love for you and me, Jesus gave up his life, died on the cross, so that God could remove our filthy rags of sin and give us instead the beautiful robes of his righteousness. Jesus gave himself in love for us that we might give ourselves in love to each other. His love is really what brings the whole outfit together for us to wear for mom. Not just for a day. But for every day of the year.

Happy Mother’s Day!