Put On Truth

Comparison is the THIEF of Joy.
PUT. ON. TRUTH.

These two sayings. They have been rattling around in my head for the last month, alternating, playing over again. I am realizing tonight how, for me, they relate to each other. Well, I should say, Jesus is opening my eyes to how they relate to each in my life.
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I don't know if its because I grew up in the church and in Christian school, but for some reason, I have a really hard time with Christian cliches and sayings: things that everyone says all the time, but often sound and feel so empty. They grate under my skin. Now, don't get me wrong. I love Jesus, and I am amazed and oh so grateful for his redemptive work in my life, but I hate the cliches and the lingo that often come along with Christian things. I feel like they can make Jesus and his work on the cross sound so trivial. I hate that. Put On Truth has been one of those saying for me. It seems empty, something people say to encourage you or challenge you, but why? What does it mean? And why does Jesus keep reminding me of something that is so irritating to me?

Why is comparison so difficult? Why is it so alluring and yet so painful at the same time? Facebook and social media have made comparison so much more of an ever present part of our lives. If you're like me, you see someone else's pictures or posts and you wonder why your life isn't like this or that or you feel happy that you aren't doing this or that. I find myself comparing myself to people and pictures and places and statuses I see on the screen and I find discontentment sneak in. I find myself feeling unhappy with my current situation, whether it's the behavior of my girls or my hair or my house or my vacation or my lack of vacation or my weight or my clothes or my family or my school or my talents or my lack of talents or my whatever it may be today, I feel unhappy and discontent. I may have felt perfectly happy and content before I started my comparison game, but then, all of the sudden, I feel completely miserable. Ugh. I don't like this person.

The past month or so, anytime that I start to play this comparison game, Jesus reminds me PUT ON TRUTH. What is truth? What is he talking about? The truth of his Word. What does he have to say about me? What does he have to say about my current situation? What does he have to say about my talents? This month I have gone searching for his truth in a different way that I have before. Yes, I am reading the same verses that I have read many times before, but my soul is soaking them in and meditating on them in a way that it hasn't before. I am realizing and recognizing the beauty in his Holy Word in a way I never have before. I am recognizing the importance of fighting back with his Word. How do I combat this comparison game? How do I combat these feelings of discontentment? PUT ON TRUTH.

My whole life people have talked about the importance of memorizing Scripture. Honestly, I knew that they weren't lying to me, but it never seemed that important to me. It seemed like a lot of work when I could just go and look up a verse in my Bible anytime I needed it. However, this month I have seen the value of memorizing Scripture, of putting on truth. Having God's Word in my mind allows me and equips me to fight. It allows me to fight in the moment, to take control of my mind and find joy in the midst of struggle, to find wisdom in the midst of confusion, to find peace in the midst of a fight. PUT ON TRUTH. His words are truth and life. It takes work, but it allows me to experience joy, unending joy.

-Katie