What “clothes” are you wearing?

A short and simple message this week, but one that I know I need to be reminded of…

Having recently completed a Bible Study on 1st, 2nd and 3rd John, and the emphasis on love that John shares in these books, I have become more aware of my wardrobe and what type of “clothes” are in the closet of my heart. I ask myself, what I am wearing when I go out into a world that needs desperately to see Jesus?

Do the clothes I “put on” each day reveal the characteristics of the “love” that John was talking about?

Born again believers are called “new creations” in Christ.

I love how 2 Cor. 5:17 in the NLT translation explains it… “those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun.” New person; new wardrobe. One that people will recognize as different from the old clothes, the clothes of the “flesh” that we were wearing. A new wardrobe that will emanate the new life we’ve found in Christ Jesus. Colossians 3:12 says, “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…and above all Love.”

v.14 …These are the clothes we should be wearing; clothes that have come from the Holy Spirit that now dwells in us. Clothes that when worn, help us to look like Jesus.

Yet, how often, instead of discarding the “old clothes” in our closet (our hearts) do we hold on to them and even worse, continue to wear them? Clothes of the “Flesh”; anger, bitterness, selfishness, impatience, jealousy, harsh words, gossip, unforgiveness, pride, and the list goes on and on. Sadly, in our world today, a world filled with division, hate and discord, when we are placed in uncomfortable situations or circumstances, we find ourselves reaching back into that “former closet” and putting on some of the “old, familiar, comfortable” clothing of the past. Just like we do, often times, with the “literal” clothes in our closet…some articles of clothing we just hate to part with. It’s the same thing with the “old clothes of the flesh” that are in the closets of our hearts, even though we know they “don’t fit us” anymore.

For those of us who like clothes…think about it; what a gift we’ve been given…a new wardrobe and we didn’t even have to pay for it. Someone else paid for it and it was VERY costly. JESUS paid for it with HIS life, offering us a new life with a new wardrobe.

Believer, we’re not the same old person, we are “new creations in Christ” and we have a new wardrobe to wear, and it’s a beautiful wardrobe…why would we want to continue wearing those “old clothes,” that represent who we USED to be, before Jesus Christ came into our lives?

If we’re struggling to let go of those “old clothes”, it’s time to ask Jesus to help us “clean out our closet” and get rid of them. Let HIM replace those “old, worn out, disgusting” clothes with the new wardrobe, that He has purchased for us, and let’s be intentional about putting on our “new clothes” each morning as we head out the door to face the world! Only then, will people “see” that the “old person and the old life” is gone and we truly are “different” now as “new creations” in Christ.

-Debbie Dorman