Casandra Martin

She was twirling on the swing in her front yard. Her long brown hair blew in the wind, and she giggled as she looked at the world through upside-down eyes. Nearby, her mother sat on a bench, exasperated. I walked by, and couldn’t help but hear their conversation.

“You need to go put on socks,” mom said. “No. I don’t want to wear socks,” said the little girl. “You really need to wear socks,” said mom. “I only want to wear the blue socks,” stated the girl. “But the blue socks are dirty.” “I don’t care. I like the blue socks. They are the only ones I want to wear.”

Back and forth they went. After smiling at the exchange, I realized that the little girl’s words were a mirror of my own heart. Too often, I am willing to wear dirty socks – stinky attitudes, poor perspectives, misaligned priorities, and bad habits – rather than change into something clean and new. I like what I like. I favor what is comfortable. The familiar appeals to me more than stepping into something different, even if it is what is best for me.

Ephesians 4:22-24 reminds us, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

My Jesus Resolution today is to take off the dirty socks. There are habits I am hanging on to which need to go. There are attitudes and ways of thinking that need to be renewed and changed by His Spirit. I need to take off the old, filthy, smelly socks and allow myself to be clothed with Christ. It will mean giving up my will, surrendering my way of doing things, and letting God direct and guide how I get dressed every day.