Good or bad, right or wrong, comfortable or not, I have discovered that I am a stereotype. I admit it…I am that woman, the one who LOVES buying new outfits. I am that girl, the one with the closet full of clothes. As in overflowing. As in seriously overflowing. And my shoes? Ummm…yeah. I’m not sure I can even count that high. Suffice it to say that I may need an intervention. Anyone else in this boat with me?
So yeah, I admit that I have a problem. However, to my credit, I will say that I do occasionally dig through my closet and try to clean out some of the items I no longer wear. But it’s so hard! I mean, if I bought it in the first place then I must have liked it…so maybe I will wear it again someday…so maybe I should hang on to it one more year just to see if I do. Sound familiar? That litany plays through my head on a regular basis as I pull out items that I haven’t seen in years, items that have slipped further into the abyss my closet tends to become. All I can say is THANK GOD that my closet is relatively small. If I had one of those walk-in beauties….well, my husband would probably not be a happy man.
The truth is…there is just something kind of magical about putting on that brand new outfit for the first time. When the fit is so flattering…when the color is just right…when the price is perfect. You know the feeling, right? All the individual pieces just come together, making one beautiful whole. And you look GOOD. Really good. But here’s the bigger truth….as Christians, we all have been given the most spectacular new outfit imaginable. The Bible says that when we were baptized into Christ that we actually PUT ON Christ (Galatians 3:27)! We have actually PUT ON the Lord (Romans 13:14)! I don’t know about you, but wrapping my brain around that truth takes some effort. But the fact remains that it is the truth. Christ is that brand new outfit that always fits just right, no matter how much weight we gain. He is that new garment that makes us look better than any other outfit ever could. He is that new set of clothes with the perfect price, the price only a perfect Savior could pay. Can you imagine it? Can you picture yourself “clothed…with the garments of salvation….covered…with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10)? Can you see it? He has clothed you with the garments of salvation. You! And me! He has covered you with the robe of righteousness. Again, you! Again, me! The Lord has dressed us with the extravagance and beauty of a bride today. Though I certainly don’t deserve it. Though I certainly could never earn it. Yet, regardless of my worthiness, I get to wear the garments of salvation today; I get to wear the robe of righteousness. I get to wear Christ! Which means I get to look like Christ! That is better than any designer outfit I can even imagine. And I look GOOD! So do you! Really good!
Here’s another truth…we have not always looked this good. Have you ever picked up an old yearbook and taken one of those cringe-worthy trips into the past? Yikes! Old hair styles (I was one of those girls with 80s hair and stock in hair spray), old fashions, makeup….what were we thinking? Who let us out of the house looking like that?? Yet, that picture, in all of its nostalgic nightmare proportions, showcases what we looked like before we came to know Christ, before we put on Christ. My old garments were all the wrong colors: deception, anger, theft, corruption. That old set of clothes, sized as bitterness, wrath, malice, evil-speaking, unforgiveness, never fit quite right. That old outfit was as costly as sin (Ephesians 4:22-31). Just like that old high school picture, we were a walking fashion nightmare. Cringe-worthy. And, to be honest, hideous to God. But, thank God, I don’t have to wear those old clothes anymore! In putting on Christ, I have donned a new outfit, one comprised of righteousness, holiness, truth, generosity, grace, kindness, tenderness, forgiveness, humility, meekness, patience, peace. And the ultimate accessory to this beautiful new set of clothes? The one piece that completes the entire ensemble? LOVE. Paul writes to the Colossians that, above all, we are to put on love (Colossians 3:9). Above all. Because, without love, the entire outfit is an epic fail. But with love, the entire outfit is complete. And, I have to admit, with love and with Christ…well, we look GOOD. Really good! Because now we look like Christ! And that’s the best “fashion” statement of all!