I guess a t-shirt can inspire you to do many things; learn to iron, wear a different t-shirt, start working out, wear a certain pair of pants… etc. Today my shirt inspired me to change my heart. When I woke up this morning to get dressed I was overjoyed with the realization that today was the only day this week that I was not required to dress professionally. I, of course, took full advantage of this by grabbing my running shorts and picking up my usual “frocket” v-neck. Realizing that I wear this same basic outfit every other day (I have 3 pairs of the same shorts and 4 of the same shirt), I decided to wear a different shirt. So I quickly dug through my drawer and found the biggest, softest shirt I could. It ended up being a really ugly, gray color with some white text on the side so I tried not to look too hard at it, slipped it on and headed to breakfast.
While walking to the caf, I started thinking about life and how annoyed I was by various things (I generally do my most profound thinking during my walk to breakfast). Focusing on my frustrations caused me to work myself into a rather grumpy mood. I was feeling negatively toward people, school work, and pretty much everything in general. For whatever reason, I remembered that I had no idea what my shirt said and decided to read it. It said, “Be different. Be love. Be Christlike.” At this point, as I passed the library and walked into the caf, I felt like I had run into a giant sign telling me to change my attitude and my heart. I mean, I guess I did… except I was wearing the sign and I didn’t run into anything (which is quite an accomplishment for those of you who don’t know me very well).
Now, to be honest, I’m not actually sure where I got this t-shirt. I think I got it for free at some convention, but I can’t remember for sure. Wherever I got it, God knew that I would need its message today. That alone is an amazing thought. Thinking about the instructions on my shirt, I asked God to help me to change my heart. I needed his strength to make my attitude like that of Christ Jesus. I began to force myself to think of all the positive elements of today: I got to wear a comfy t-shirt; God was/is quite obviously present; I didn’t have any homework due; there were breakfast burritos in the caf; and the list went on and on.
It definitely wasn’t easy to follow the directions on my shirt. I constantly caught my human self thinking about negative things rather than the list of approved thoughts I had been given in Philippians 4:8. However, with God’s help, time and time again I would remind myself to “Be different. Be love. Be Christlike.” This challenge has been eye-opening for me and has taught me a lot. Tomorrow I plan to wake up continuing to be inspired by the shirt I wore today.
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