Devotional: New Clothes


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

I love the feeling of new clothes. I mean who doesn't? Especially when it's of a specific fabric; organic cotton, 100% cotton. It feels so fresh and so clean. Lately, I have been buying clothes on-line. With many retail stores closed due to Covid-19, I had the pleasure of trying something new and experienced the trend of online-shopping. I ordered some pink sneakers and went ahead and ordered a pink t-shirt to go with it. The sneakers and  t-shirt arrived in 3 business days from the time I ordered the,. and I couldn't wait to try them on. After I put both items on, I thought to myself " I should have bought some new bottoms. Luckily, I found a skirt I had already had and with the other two things, the outfit came out pretty nice . Putting on the new clothes with something older reminded me of  the beginning scriptures in Colossians chapter 3. 

Colossians 3 starts off reminding those who have given their lives to Christ; to set their mind on things of Christ, and to put to death the old habits, ways of thinking and old actions.3:1-3 Since, then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things, 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  It talks about how after we have given our life to Christ, we are made new.  3:10-12 says  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of it's Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is all. 12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 

God does not care about our new clothes. What matters to him is how we clothe our hearts, how we renew our minds. I can testify, it's not easy as it sounds. Many times I revert to old habits because of impatience, feelings of loneliness, feeling like an outcast; But with the Spirit and my obedience, God will continue to make me new. The Spirit is peace, happiness,change, purity, wholeness, fullness. My prayer today and for the rest of my life is that I will clothe myself in the Spirit without turning back. Is this your prayer today? All we have to say is "Jesus, Help me to change". He knows our hearts. 

Dear Father, 
Help me Lord to clothe myself in the Spirit. New clothes are nice;however, they are not that nice to you if my Spirit is impure. Clothe my heart Lord.  With all of your Goodness and Light.  I can't do it alone. In Jesus name I pray. Amen

Be Encouraged,

Noelani

Comments