What to wear

In the television show What Not to Wear, participants allow fashion experts to go through their closets, ridiculing their wardrobes and ultimately throwing away their clothes, all in exchange for the promise of a new wardrobe that will improve their lives by advancing their careers with “the right look.”

Participants sometimes cry when forced to surrender certain items of clothing: “But it’s so comfortable!” they wail. Or, “I love that because I’ve had it for so long,” they moan. Or, “That outfit is a reflection of my personality!” they exclaim.

These participants can’t see what’s obvious to the fashion experts – these clothes are hideous and are hindering their chances of getting ahead in life.

I laugh to think of the fashion experts going through my closet. Would anything in my sorry wardrobe survive their scrutiny? I doubt it.

God’s Word tells us, “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” These attributes of God are compared to garments that we may – or may not – choose to wear, but it is an act of our will. Each day we must choose what to put on.

I realized recently that when I go against THE “fashion expert’s” advice and instead put on indifference, hatred, pride, hard-heartedness and rudeness, I make myself UGLY. Who wants to see me dressed like that? Somebody should just tell me, “Girl, you look awful. Go home and change your clothes!”

Thankfully, my heavenly Father wants to take me on a shopping trip and buy me an entire new wardrobe. I imagine Him saying to me, “My child, I love to see you in compassion,” and “You look beautiful when you wear kindness,” and “Humility is your best color,” and “Gentleness goes so well with everything,” and “Do you know how THIN you look in patience?”

While I still despair each day over my wardrobe when I enter my closet, I’m thankful that God gives me things to wear with lasting beauty and eternal benefits.