What to Wear
WHAT TO WEAR?
Editor’s Note: This is a guest story by contributor June Titus. I love this devotional because it also has a poem in it! Check out June’s last devotional, Vital and Green, here.
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.
Colossians 3: 12-14 (NLT)
Dog-days are over. Cooler weather is coming, and soon the trees will be wearing their showy fall colors, truly exquisite attire that we might have a difficult time if we try to duplicate it. With the crisper air, shorts and tees may not be adequate for that morning walk. So, “What to wear?”
The children are back in school, and there are new trends in fashion, or maybe school uniforms or a dress code. So, they may be concerned with “What to wear?” Young adults going back to college or, perhaps, heading out for a job interview ask, “What to wear?” Mom and Dad want to look their best for the job, business meetings, social occasions, and worship services. “What to wear?” Our elder population, more concerned about how to stay warm than the latest fashion trends, still want to know, “What to wear?”
No matter what stage of life we are in, we think of what we should wear on any given occasion. It’s a daily routine for most of us. As a girl I remember a prayer we prayed at the supper table, voicing our gratitude to God for food, shelter, and clothing. That was a good exercise in thanksgiving for all God gives us, but He has more for us to wear than these outward togs.
Indeed, a greater concern in any season of the year, and more so in any season of life—certainly apropos as we check our physical appearance before heading out for the day—is “What to wear” to reflect our Lord Jesus Christ? If Christ is King of my life, should I not be dressed in a “Royal Wardrobe?” Some years back I sometimes shopped in a used clothing store called “Glad Rags,” so I wrote . . .
I love new clothes and often shop in places old and new.
I try on clothes that may have been some outfit owned by you.
These “glad rags” are a welcomed change and suit me to a tee.
For pennies I can have a gown that looks so good on me.
It’s of no import how I’m clad or how I choose to dress;
It’s rather of significance—of greater weight to stress—
That I should wear the royal togs of mercy, love, and grace,
Because my neighbor sees these more than outward frock or face. JET
(Forgive the ditty, but after all, I’m a poet!)
Ditties aside, the real royal wardrobe is tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and of course, love. These robes cost us nothing, but yet they cost everything. They are free through the Holy Spirit to those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. But on the other hand, they cost us to yield ungodly selfish behaviors, ungodly attitudes, and iron-clad grudges that prevent our donning these beautiful robes. (For more disrobing, read Colossians 3: 5-11) The new ones just don’t fit when we insist on wearing those rags.
But more than the cost of removing the robes of our old nature, it is important to recognize that it cost our Lord Jesus Christ everything—His life for ours at Calvary—so we could have access to this Royal Wardrobe.
What to wear? A wardrobe fit for a child of the King!
June W. Titus is a retired nurse and poet and mother and grandmother, living with her husband in southern Georgia. Now in her eighties, she remains active in her local church. Among other church responsibilities, she teaches a Sunday school class of her peers. She writes a weekly blog on Facebook, entitled “Monday Musings.” Prior to moving to Georgia, she was a regular contributor to “The Watauga Democrat” newspaper, and “
