Do We Wear THe Right Clothes?

‘Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord’ Zechariah 4:6

Do we wear the right clothes?

Colossians 3:12 NIV.  Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

 The Bible has a lot to say about what we wear, not so much referring to the material garments but rather what  our inner demeanour is really like.                                                                                       Peter adds this, speaking about women in the church, but equally applicable to the men 
1Peter 3:3 ‘Do not let your beauty be that of outward adorning, of arranging of hair ( your hairstyle), of wearing of gold ( your fancy or expensive jewellery) or of putting on fine apparel ( latest fashionable clothes), But let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible ornament of a gentle and quiet spirit , which is very precious in the sight of God.’                                                                                                                   Powerful and challenging words! In other words Peter seems to be saying:- It’s not what we look like on the outside. It’s not so much the clothes we wear that’s important but rather our attitude to God, the ‘hidden’ person of the heart.                                                                                                  We live in a world where ‘outward adorning’ has become synonymous with status, glamour, respectability or one’s own personal confidence. We become obsessed with how we look, the clothes we wear ( the branding, the style), our hair style, shoe style, ear-rings, studs, tattoos; the list is endless. Many of the glossy magazines in our shops give this message on their front covers:- ‘look at me’, ‘Be more like this’,           ‘ See how well I’m doing for my age!’  And the message is relentless in books, magazines, TV commercials and so on, each bombarding us with the same philosophy. Get this. Buy this. Wear this. Try this. Change yourself and then you’ll Feel good! When presented so continually in these ways we insidiously take the underlying message on board, caught in the deceptive web of self adulation. Anything repeated over and over in this way must have this affect eventually. If it didn’t then all these multi-media presentations would be in vain and a waste of money to the advertisers!

          So is God not interested in our clothes or the way we look? No! It’s just that we should not fuss or worry about them unduly. Jesus made this very clear:-

 Matthew6:25-34   ‘.....Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?.... So why worry about clothing?... Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you thet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these....for after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly father knows that you need all these things....But seek first His Kingdome  and His righteousness... and all these things....’

 God is far far more interested in ehat we wear on the inside. as the text in Colossians 3:17 reminds us.Thes qualities are also mentioned in Galatins 5:22,23 ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

 So how am I doing? Scripture makes it clear that we are in a spiritual battle. We have an enemy, Satan! Just as it would be foolish to go to war dressed in the wrong clothes; shorts, trainers, tee shirt....instead of protective battle gear so then as Christians we must wear the right things too!  in our hearts and minds !

 Philippians 6:10-17  ‘ Put on the whole armour of God....Wear the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness...Take the sword of the spirit.....

 This speaks to me about the daily battle of our minds against the enemy who will tell us lies !                                               John 8;44b ‘..He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.’

He tells us things like,’You’ll never amount to much’, ’Why bother following Jesus. It work out!’ ‘ You’ve sinned too much. Give up!’ ‘God doesn’t really care about you!’

  The answer to these accusations in in our thought life,

2 Corinthians 10:5

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

The key word here is OBEDIENCE. The Bible is consistent throughout that obedience leads to blessing. We often sing, ‘Trust and obey for there’s NO other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.’

The more we practice this , the more we put on these garments of salvation, the more they fit us, the more they become second nature and the more we will enjoy God and live the life He wants us to experience!

Psalm 100:4

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.