A New Spiritual Wardrobe

​As we fix our eyes, heart, mind, affections, and attention on the things of heaven and that which lasts through eternity, we’ll quickly come to realize one thing:  we need a new spiritual wardrobe!  II Corinthians 5:17 tells us that we are a new creation, a new man, a new person—the old has gone and the new has come.  But this new person needs a new wardrobe to go with their new status as child of the living God.  Therefore, Paul tells the Colossians:

“But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. …  Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
 ~Colossians 3:8, 12-14

Spiritual Clothes
They are not like clothes in the literal, physical sense where you can see and feel them, but we still wear them, making them clothing in a sense.  They become part of our person, reflecting who we are inside.  Just as a well-put-together outfit sets apart a person, so also these attributes when worn in beautiful combination set apart and elegantly clothe the Christian. 
 
What are these things?  Our spiritual clothing. 
 
As my mom used to tell me and my sisters, “Be sure you don’t go out for the day without your compassion, kindness, humility, and patience!”  Just like you wouldn’t dream of heading out for your busy day without clothes on, so also we shouldn’t forget to put our spiritual garments on.  Without them, we will quickly become ashamed, embarrassed, and unprepared for adverse elements we’ll need to face in each day.
 
Pick the Right Outfit
But make sure you pick the right outfit!  Just like we have an old man and a new man, so also we have an old wardrobe and a new one.  So be careful that you don’t choose clothes from the old section! 
 
Business executives dress in formal business attire; construction workers wear clothing appropriate for their job description.  So also we need to wear the spiritual clothing appropriate for our position and status in the spiritual realm.  At one time we were slaves to sin and thus wore the dirty, disgusting, ugly trappings of slavery.  These items included anger, malice, slander, gossip, lying, hatred, selfishness, pride, and a myriad of other undesirable qualities.  However, these clothing items were for an old life—a life lived in slavery—and we no longer are living underneath that heavy, oppressive burden.  We are free.  We are redeemed.  We are set free.  God calls us His children—a huge, undeserved honor.  Therefore, let us dress fittingly.
 
New Clothes for a New Life
We have a new wardrobe, courtesy of Jesus Christ, so let’s use it!  We no longer need to wear the rags of our former life for we have access to the rich splendor of satin and silk, the fine garments of royalty.  These include the most beautiful items such as compassion, humility, kindness, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love. 
 
But putting these beautiful new spiritual clothes on is a decision we must make each and every morning.  They don’t automatically wrap themselves around us when we get up each morning.  We have to make a conscientious decision to get dressed in our new attire.
 
So I ask you:  What are you wearing today?
 
Paul commanded us and the Colossians to put off or take off the traits of the old self and to put on the new, complete with a new wardrobe befitting a child of God.  I pray that each one of us would obey and get up each morning and choose to don our new attire and dress in a way becoming a redeemed son or daughter of the Most High.  So use the new wardrobe the Lord has given you and show the world who you are and what you do by the spiritual clothing you wear.  And may we never start a day without our spiritual clothing!  

“You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
 ~Colossians 3:9b-10