I gave away a large stack of my old clothes recently.
It took a number of trips, lugging heavy bags, taking Singapore public transport and then doing a 'heave'-offering into the Salvation Army collection centre. And from the looks of things I'll still have to make a couple more trips over the next few weeks.
We Chinese usually do loads of spring-cleaning and housekeeping before the Chinese New Year. That makes it an appropriate time to look through the wardrobe and decide if you REALLY want to wear that crazy shirt you bought the last holiday…
After totally forgetting to do this for years, I finally buckled myself down and forced myself to start on seriously evaluating my wardrobe and the clothes therein. And it started me thinking about my spiritual dress sense also. To make it very simple, our spiritual dressing is made up of:
1) What We Take Off
Why were there so many of my old clothes left in my wardrobe? Because I didn't grow physically over the past 12 or so years. Many people I know wear forced to give away their old clothes because those clothes didn't fit them anymore. But for me, my height, my arm-length and even my waistline has remained the same, so I could get away with wearing the old clothes that I used to wear 12 years back.
It's just like how some believers, when they first turn to Christ from an extremely bad background, such as drug and alcohol abuse, crime and all that, change spiritual dressing very drastically. Because what they had to get rid of was very obvious and easy to see, you could see the changes in their lives very quickly. They knew their old ways just didn’t fit their new identity in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).
It was like people whose waistlines grew a few inches. It's obvious that their old jeans don't fit anymore!
Some believers don't have horrible backgrounds when they come to Christ. Maybe they were by nature nice people already, or their parents had brought them up well, or they had really good self-discipline. Because the things they had to get rid of were not so obvious, they could actually get away with staying the same, not totally surrendering their behavior and emotions to the Lord, and people around them wouldn't notice.
It's like me keeping old clothes from 12 years back because they still fit OK!
So why I get rid of the old clothes then? Because no matter how much I washed them, they still stink. There was a moldy, stale smell that wouldn't go away no matter how many times I put those clothes in the washing machine.
Likewise for our attitudes and habits. Even though they may still fit in our lives (they don't cause us or the people around us major inconvenience or problems), after a while, as we mature in Christ we realize that they stink, we don't like them and we really ought to get rid of them.
2) What We Put On
Why did I get down to evaluating my wardrobe after all these years? Because I was given lots of new clothes and I needed to make space for them in my room.
That is my primary motivation for getting rid of anger, malice, slander and other inappropriate habits from my life. Even though they were not really obvious and not causing that much problems, I needed to get rid of them to make even more room for compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
One thing I appreciate about how Paul expresses himself here – he compares those virtues to clothes. One thing that sets humans apart from animals – our clothes are NOT a part of us, and we therefore have a choice in what we choose to wear.
We can't change the color of our skin, but we can choose what we wear above it. Likewise, despite our basic nature, we can choose to wear compassion, kindness and the other virtues over it. At the very beginning, when we struggle with our old emotional habits and thought-life, putting on compassion can make us feel like we are faking it, that we are pretending to be kind and humble people when we aren't. The accuser can jump in to heap condemnation upon us and discourage us from the Christian walk, or we sometimes totally discourage ourselves without his help.
As long as we know that it feels uncomfortable and unnatural at the beginning, we are not expecting it to be a miraculous change and we are not very disappointed if we slip up and make mistakes. This allows us to keep on at it for the long haul, and after time what we wear becomes an integral part of our personal identity. Gentleness, kindness and patience are not longer just clothes that we may or may not wear that day; they become vital and irreplaceable aspects of our spiritual dress code.
And by that time we cannot imagine or accept replacing them with anything less!
It's just like my current dress sense. There are colours and types of clothes I know I will NEVER wear. I don't care what other people say. I am NEVER going to wear Bermuda-pants (I think I look ridiculous in them) or the brighter, fiery colours (such as yellow, orange or red). I'm sticking to my favourite colours no matter how boring they make me look. My clothes and the colours I choose are now a vital part of my personal identity and I am sticking with them!
Of course, it helps that I am already married and am no longer spouse-hunting…
So when was the last time YOU waited before the LORD and asked him what he wanted you to change in your spiritual wardrobe?
Be blessed!
It took a number of trips, lugging heavy bags, taking Singapore public transport and then doing a 'heave'-offering into the Salvation Army collection centre. And from the looks of things I'll still have to make a couple more trips over the next few weeks.
We Chinese usually do loads of spring-cleaning and housekeeping before the Chinese New Year. That makes it an appropriate time to look through the wardrobe and decide if you REALLY want to wear that crazy shirt you bought the last holiday…
After totally forgetting to do this for years, I finally buckled myself down and forced myself to start on seriously evaluating my wardrobe and the clothes therein. And it started me thinking about my spiritual dress sense also. To make it very simple, our spiritual dressing is made up of:
1) What We Take Off
Colossians 3:5, 8-9 – Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry… But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. (NIV)
Why were there so many of my old clothes left in my wardrobe? Because I didn't grow physically over the past 12 or so years. Many people I know wear forced to give away their old clothes because those clothes didn't fit them anymore. But for me, my height, my arm-length and even my waistline has remained the same, so I could get away with wearing the old clothes that I used to wear 12 years back.
It's just like how some believers, when they first turn to Christ from an extremely bad background, such as drug and alcohol abuse, crime and all that, change spiritual dressing very drastically. Because what they had to get rid of was very obvious and easy to see, you could see the changes in their lives very quickly. They knew their old ways just didn’t fit their new identity in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).
It was like people whose waistlines grew a few inches. It's obvious that their old jeans don't fit anymore!
Some believers don't have horrible backgrounds when they come to Christ. Maybe they were by nature nice people already, or their parents had brought them up well, or they had really good self-discipline. Because the things they had to get rid of were not so obvious, they could actually get away with staying the same, not totally surrendering their behavior and emotions to the Lord, and people around them wouldn't notice.
It's like me keeping old clothes from 12 years back because they still fit OK!
So why I get rid of the old clothes then? Because no matter how much I washed them, they still stink. There was a moldy, stale smell that wouldn't go away no matter how many times I put those clothes in the washing machine.
Likewise for our attitudes and habits. Even though they may still fit in our lives (they don't cause us or the people around us major inconvenience or problems), after a while, as we mature in Christ we realize that they stink, we don't like them and we really ought to get rid of them.
2) What We Put On
Colossians 3:12 – Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (NIV)
Why did I get down to evaluating my wardrobe after all these years? Because I was given lots of new clothes and I needed to make space for them in my room.
That is my primary motivation for getting rid of anger, malice, slander and other inappropriate habits from my life. Even though they were not really obvious and not causing that much problems, I needed to get rid of them to make even more room for compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
One thing I appreciate about how Paul expresses himself here – he compares those virtues to clothes. One thing that sets humans apart from animals – our clothes are NOT a part of us, and we therefore have a choice in what we choose to wear.
Jeremiah 13:23 - Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? (NKJV)
We can't change the color of our skin, but we can choose what we wear above it. Likewise, despite our basic nature, we can choose to wear compassion, kindness and the other virtues over it. At the very beginning, when we struggle with our old emotional habits and thought-life, putting on compassion can make us feel like we are faking it, that we are pretending to be kind and humble people when we aren't. The accuser can jump in to heap condemnation upon us and discourage us from the Christian walk, or we sometimes totally discourage ourselves without his help.
As long as we know that it feels uncomfortable and unnatural at the beginning, we are not expecting it to be a miraculous change and we are not very disappointed if we slip up and make mistakes. This allows us to keep on at it for the long haul, and after time what we wear becomes an integral part of our personal identity. Gentleness, kindness and patience are not longer just clothes that we may or may not wear that day; they become vital and irreplaceable aspects of our spiritual dress code.
And by that time we cannot imagine or accept replacing them with anything less!
It's just like my current dress sense. There are colours and types of clothes I know I will NEVER wear. I don't care what other people say. I am NEVER going to wear Bermuda-pants (I think I look ridiculous in them) or the brighter, fiery colours (such as yellow, orange or red). I'm sticking to my favourite colours no matter how boring they make me look. My clothes and the colours I choose are now a vital part of my personal identity and I am sticking with them!
Of course, it helps that I am already married and am no longer spouse-hunting…
So when was the last time YOU waited before the LORD and asked him what he wanted you to change in your spiritual wardrobe?
Be blessed!
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