What Are You Wearing Today?

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14

What you wear matters. You know this fact to be true, because every morning, you spend time picking out the clothes you’ll wear for the day. Even today, did you choose to dress comfortably or casually? Are you wearing fashionable formals or your favorite t-shirt? Shoes or slippers?

Whether you spent 30 seconds or 30 minutes getting dressed, the fact of the matter is that you made a choice, whether intentional or unintentional, because you knew that what you wore today will communicate a message. 

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul reminds us that we, as God’s people, choose to clothe ourselves, not in physical clothing, but spiritual clothing. He encourages us to wear compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. As a Christian, all of these virtues should be obvious to someone when they look at you, in the same way that someone can determine the color, material, and cut of your clothing with a simple gaze. 

Can people tell that you are compassionate and kind when they see how you interact with your family? When meeting with your leaders, do you approach them in humility, gentleness, and patience? When someone wrongs you, are you quick to forgive, slow to speak, and slow to anger? 

Today, you get to choose what you want to wear. You get to choose how to present yourselves to people. You have the opportunity to be a living, breathing, walking representative of Jesus Christ through your intentional choice of clothing. What virtues, character, and morals have you chosen to display to the world? Are you dressed ready for an encounter with God? Are you ready to represent Him? Can people see Christ woven into the fabric of your life? As God’s child––sanctified and dearly loved by Him––your father has given you the freedom to wear whatever you want. What are you choosing to wear today? 

APPLICATION:

When I was a freshman in college, I was instructed to wear “business casual” to my class’ first day convocation ceremonies. For the special occasion, I meticulously chose to sport my freshly-pressed olive green Reyn Spooner shirt tucked neatly into my long black Perry Ellis pants, held together by the new Van Heusen reversible belt, both just bought from Ross Pearl City before hopping onto the 10-hour plane ride to the East Coast. As one of the nine Hawaii kids who made it into Yale that year, I walked into my college courtyard dressed in the best “business casual” attire Hawaii has to offer, proud to represent my island heritage. However, when I opened the door, I was terrified. Everyone else looked the same, donned in their suits-sans-ties. Panicking, I ran back into my dorm. Within 3 minutes I frantically changed into what I had always considered my “formal suit” and ran back out into the courtyard in my sweat-stained shirt just in time for the ceremony to begin. 

It started off as an honest mistake. “Business casual” clearly meant something different to us here in Hawaii as opposed to the rest of the mainland. However, when I opened the door, I realized that even more than wanting to represent Hawaii, I just wanted to fit in. So even though my aloha shirt and slacks were more than acceptable for the occasion, I changed what I wore because I wanted to fit in with and be accepted by the rest of the crowd.

The same can be true for us. We attend church on Sunday, clothing ourselves in compassion and kindness, but by the time we walk into work on Monday, we’re wearing greed and self-centeredness. We put on humility and patience when we volunteer to serve, but by the time we return home, we’ve traded them for pride and impulsiveness. We go to small group sporting love and forgiveness, but we harbor hate and spite to those who have hurt us. 

The clothes you wear should communicate the God you serve. Don’t compromise your clothing to please others. Don’t change your clothing to fit in. You aren’t meant to fit in––you’re meant to be different because you are different! Deuteronomy 14:2 says “you have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be his own special treasure.” 

Dress differently. Don’t dress to fit in with the world; dress to represent your God. Clothe yourselves in humility, righteousness, compassion, kindness, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. And when you do, the world around you will see the Savior you have chosen to follow. And who knows…maybe the clothes you wear might just lead someone to Jesus. What you wear matters because your clothes communicate a message. Today, let your clothes communicate the Message.