“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”Colossians 3:12-15 NLT
The Apostle Paul pulls language from the OT and threads it into the new context of Godly living. Be the Holy People God chose! As the “eklektos,” chosen out, elect, choice, specially selected, we should look and act like Jesus. FYI, for you Lego fans, the root word of chosen is “légō” (originally, “lay down to sleep,” used later of “laying an argument to rest,” i.e. bringing a message to closure; properly, to say (speak), moving to a conclusion.
When I was a youth I wore whatever was comfortable, definitely not fashionable. But when my relationship with my girlfriend, Robin, got more serious, she encouraged me to dress a little more appropriate for certain occasions, taking into mind the purpose and people who would be at a function. She wanted to help up my choices because I was maturing and needed to dress accordingly.
The Apostle Paul uses the visual object lesson of clothing, as a way to communicate that we can and should begin to wear the style of Jesus as God is changing our hearts on the inside. Using the word, “enduo,” put on, clothe (another), he writes that it’s time to start wearing the qualities of Jesus. Not to fake or fool anyone, but to have our outward behaviors better reflect the inner work of the Holy Spirit. Grab a new top of mercy in our heart, toss on a kindness shirt, put on a new pair of humility pants paired with some gospel peace shoes. These “inner workings” can now be seen and experienced by others.
The most striking reason Paul tells the churches to wear these new clothes, this “holiness” brand of God, is mostly for each other. Paul is talking about how we dress and treat each other, fellow followers of Jesus. It is “church wear,” but not for showing up at a building on Sundays. It’s how we now “dress” to remind each other of the amazing changes the Holy Spirit is making in us and how we should be deliberate and determined to wear all new outward behaviors. Paul’s suggested clothing line is also known as the fruits of the Spirit! Believers should be more interested in wearing Spirit-wear than the old, unfashionable, flesh-wear! Paul’s challenge to us, start dressing like a believer when we’re around each other because it’s likely MORE challenging to do so with each other in comparison to dressing for un-believers. What’s in your closet? What are you wearing today?
Prayer
Dad,
Paul is a genius! Who would have thought about this whole idea of not just WWJD, what would Jesus do, but WWJW, what would Jesus wear? Of course Jesus would be wearing mercy! I’m sure your Shalom Peace looked great on him. Somehow people who had never met him before nor heard of him were drawn to him because of these extraordinarily beautiful outfits tailored by the Holy Spirit! No one could wear gentleness like Jesus. What a challenge this is for me, for us to not only allow you to keep working on our heart to mold us into the image of your Son, but to begin to choose matching outfits for our day reflect the true beauty of that change. When I think about what’s in my spiritual closet, I want to remember to put on the qualities and behaviors of Jesus everyday.