SHIRT TALES

Colossians 3:5-12
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.


A robber in England made a really poor choice in clothing. The bumbling thief wore a Glasgow Rangers soccer team jersey with his last name spelled out in large letters on the back!

Surveillance cameras recorded images of the guy committing his holdup--and his name. One policeman noted, "[This guy] is obviously a million miles away from being a criminal mastermind."

So, what do our clothes say about us? There's a reason we wear what we wear.

One reason may be to make a statement. But if our attire is "shouting" immodesty--that's the wrong message. We might as well have our name written on the back of our shirt with a few other words like "loose" or "thought-life destroyer" or "playboy."

Music artist Rebecca St. James, known for her love for Jesus, recently said, "Modesty is . . . purity in action. It's that heart commitment coming out in the way that you're living--the decisions you're making in what you wear. And I think some girls say, 'Yes, I'm waiting. I'm a virgin,' and they're hardly wearing anything.

"I like to wear . . . things that are modest and are not showing too much flesh and are not too tight. It's a worthwhile battle, because I so believe in . . . not causing my brothers in Christ to struggle and lust."

Rebecca's insights are not for females only. To honor God, women and men should dress in a way that will not cause members of the opposite sex to stumble.

Paul wrote, "Put to death . . . impurity, lust" (Colossians 3:5). This means we are literally to wipe out impure stuff from our lives. If we're dressing in a way that causes others to have impure thoughts about us, we've failed them--and God.

The "clothing" (v.12) other people should see is the beauty of Jesus and His character radiating from our face and actions. Modesty is part of that beautiful attire. --Tom Felten

DESTINATION POINTS

* Why do I dress the way I do?
* How does my clothing--or lack of it--affect others?
* Why is my modesty so important to God?

LINKS:
A Decent Proposal
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2003/003/3.46.html

It's Still All About God
http://www.christianitytoday.com/cl/7c3/7c3026.html

bottom line: Dress for success? Modesty is best.

soul journey