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Today’s Look into the Closet of Exchange:

One day when I was a child I had a conversation with my grandmother. She had made a beautiful Easter dress for me, and she asked me if she could save it—the dress I absolutely adored and loved to twirl in—and give it to my younger cousins.

I stomped my feet and yelled, “No!” It was mine! Oh, what a selfish, childish response I had. As my grandma said, it was not very attractive at all. That dress still hangs in my closet of memories as a reminder of an awful, selfish heart. Do you have clothing that demonstrates a similar kind of sick heart that’s in need of Jesus?

Matthew 18:3 reminds us God wants to change our whole outlook and transform our behavior from childish to childlike. He wants us to go to the place in our closets where He has hung clothes that demonstrate His responses, His perspectives, and His desires to bring others to a closer relationship with Him. You know those values: kindness, humility, and long-suffering to name just a few. You see, to be childlike is to be trusting of our Father, to believe what He promises He will do, and to be Him to those around us.

The Father wants to move us from the part of the closet that is “all about me” and into the part of the closet that reflects and draws others to Him. He wants us to put on clothes that shift the eyes of others off ourselves and onto Him. Sometimes, those clothes are itchy and uncomfortable. Sometimes, they just don’t seem to fit. Perhaps we need to set up our dining room tables to eat the food of His Word. We need to accustom our palates to His “diet” for us in order to fit into these new clothes. Watch your body, heart, and soul change with these choices. 

Today’s Life Exchange:

1. Look into your closet today and clean out the old clothes.

2. Now, get ready to put on those new designer clothes He has already hung up for you.

3. Make it a purpose in your heart to obey His Word from Matthew. Speak into others what you have learned from Him today.