Being the Beloved - A Monthly Blog from CFDM Northwest
By Wanda Dorsing, Spiritual Director
My daughter and I wore prom dresses to the airport. Beautiful black dresses with pink flowers on the long flowy skirts that had been marked down from several hundred dollars to $19.99. We weren’t shopping for dresses when we innocently walked by the dress section in Macys and noticed the price and the good fortune that they had one in each of our sizes. We only meant to try them on but as we twirled and laughed in the dressing room, we thought, we are going to buy these dresses and wear them. Never mind that neither of us had a prom or formal event in our future.
I think of these dresses and how fabulous they were to wear when I read Paul’s fashion advice in Colossians 3:12-14. Here is how The Message puts it:
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Paul invites us to take off the old self with its practices and put on the new self which is being renewed to look more like Jesus. A few verses before Paul says:
You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.
Paul’s clothing analogy helps me consider how I live since I’ve been “raised with Christ” (v1). The new, raised-with-Christ self that we put on is being renewed into the image of its Creator (v10). To be clear, this renewal, this transformation, is the work of God. We do not renew ourselves. But we do participate by our obedience, by choosing compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (v12) as we are able. We choose against sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, rage, malice, slander, filthy language and lying (v5, 8,9). Transformation is God’s work and we cooperate by putting on practices that coordinate with the work God has done and is doing in us.
Each of us makes choices each day about what we are going to wear. Sometimes we dress with great thought and intention, but more often we just “throw something on.” Each day we choose how we will live, sometimes with great thought and intention but often we are on autopilot. Paul's invitation is to intentionally cooperate with God who is renewing us by his Spirit.
My daughter and I chose to wear our prom dresses to the airport to greet my sister whose highly anticipated visits happen too infrequently. We dressed with great intention and anticipation. We have fun memories of parading through the airport to welcome my sister. We highly recommend prom dresses for airport pick ups! For trips to the airport or whatever else our days hold, Paul’s fashion advice is solid:
Dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you. . . .And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
What helps you each day to put on the wardrobe God has picked out for you? Post in the comments below or hop on over to our Facebook page and share with one another.