Who are You Wearing?

Colossians 3: 9-10

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Who are you wearing? It’s the question we hear over and over again at any red carpet event. Celebrities walk the red carpet in the latest designer clothes, and reporters ask over and over to know which designer created which signature piece. After a while, we can almost guess the designer from the look of the clothes.

The same is true of us. Our behavior says a lot about our “designer”–who we’re following. When we are in our sinful nature, practicing selfish behaviors and following after fleshly lusts, we give a picture to the world that looks no different. We’re following what the world is following. We’re doing what the world would do. Our behavior doesn’t separate us from the pack. Nothing special to see here.

But when we cast off those behaviors, when we put aside our old self, something changes. We have to replace the way we used to do things with something new. We put on a new self with new practices. Paul expected the believers at Colosse to act differently than the world around them. They were to do things in a godly way, and that way would be completely foreign to the culture they lived in. No more lying. No more divisions among Jews and Gentiles, slaves and freemen, civilized or uncivilized. Now the believers were to show integrity and unity. They would be compassionate, humble, kind, gentle, patient, forgiving. They would look entirely different.

By putting on the new behaviors, they would signal to the world that a new designer was in town. They would stand out. They would be different from the world in such a way that others would notice at a glance that there was a difference about them. People might even start asking about the change in them, and that would open up the door to share the gospel message with the world.

When others look at you, who do they see? Are you wearing the designs and behaviors of the world around you? Or are you dressed in the virtues and behaviors of Jesus Christ? When you’re wearing the robe of righteousness, people will notice, and you’ll have lots of opportunities to tell them who you’re wearing!

Father, thank you that you take the filthy rags of our old sinful nature and you replace them with sparkling white robes of righteousness. I thank you, Father, that I can take off the old ways of doing things. I can cast away the old behaviors that marked me as part of the world, and I can put on your way of doing things. I can change from the inside out until everyone around me can see your designer label on my life. Lord, help me to live a life so different from the world around me that it draws people to your design–to you! In Jesus’ name, Amen.