WHAT TYPE OF CLOTHES DO YOU WEAR?

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

One of the first impressions you have when you meet someone is by the clothes they wear. Often clothes reflect the personality and character of a person and can be helpful in sizing up someone you meet. The reason for this is that we take great interest in what we wear. We pick our favorite colors and material. We take care how tight or loose our clothes fit. We also choose clothes for the function they have as we go about daily living. We don’t wear the same clothes to work that we wear when we exercise. We don’t wear the same clothes to a funeral that we wear to a party.

 

A passage in Colossians uses the analogy of clothes to make a spiritual point in how we behave towards others. In Colossians 3:12 it states,

 

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

 

There are several things we can learn from this passage. First it is a command that bases its authority on the fact of who we are as Christians; Disciples of Christ. We are God’s chosen people. We are holy in His sight. We are dearly loved by our Heavenly Father. Because we are a chosen people, holy and dearly loved by God we are commanded to clothe ourselves appropriately.

 

We are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. All these traits are qualities of God. We are called to dress ourselves just like our Heavenly Father. These qualities are to be demonstrated in our lives because we are new creatures in Christ and we have God’s Holy Spirit living within us. Because of God’s grace and love we have been redeemed and renewed to living a life pleasing to God.

 

It’s interesting that God in this verse commands us to clothe ourselves with such traits and behaviors. At first you might think that since we have been redeemed and renewed that these godly traits would just come naturally. But what we find as we live the Christian life is that while we are called to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient it does not just automatically happen. We are constantly faced with decisions where we have to choose to deny our sinful nature and model ourselves after our Savior, Jesus Christ. We die to self, listen to the Holy Spirit and seek to obey God’s Word and with God’s strength and power demonstrate the qualities of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

 

When you think about it, it’s a lot like getting dressed for daily activities. We have to purpose to put on our clothes so we are presentable. We have to spend time making sure we look good before going out into public. In similar fashion we must clothe ourselves with Christ’s character as we go out and interact with others. We must make efforts to grow in compassion so we can empathize with those who are suffering. We must remember the kindness God showed us as sinners so that we can be kind to those we come in contact with. We must understand the humility that Christ possessed if we are to emulate Him in our actions. We must allow the Holy Spirit lead us and listen to His counsel if we are to be able to be gentle in our dealings with others. We must comprehend how patient our Heavenly Father is with us each and every day if we ever expect to be patient with in our relationships with others.

 

Clothing ourselves with the traits of the Lord Jesus Christ can only take place if we submit to Jesus Christ and seek to make Him our Lord and Master. As we are transformed by the renewing of our mind we are able to clothe ourselves appropriately so that we behave as God’s chosen people. We are a people who do not live for ourselves, but for our Lord. We are a people who let God’s love flow through us because we have died to self and seek to be led by the Holy Spirit in all we do.

 

Romans 13:13-14

“Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

 

1 Peter 5:5

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud; but gives grace to the humble.’”