Scandinavians have a beloved adage: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.” This region of the world is known for its brutally cold winters, and, yet, its people have come to embrace each and every season and what it brings. Instead of complaining that the weather is bad, they commit to clothing themselves appropriately. Because of this, they are able to enjoy every season instead of writing off the more extreme weather as unendurable. What a perspective shift this makes.
As Christians, are we clothing ourselves properly to weather the seasons of life? How do we outfit ourselves to appropriately handle both the sunny days and the stormy days? The apostle Paul has sage words to share on this topic in his Letter to the Colossians:
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12).”
When we proclaim Christ as Lord and accept the Holy Spirit into our hearts, a radical thing happens—we are made new! We are to put on our new selves as we strive for Christ’s likeness. The attributes Paul lists—compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience—are all attributes that Christ perfectly modeled for us, and, since Christ is in us, we should strive to model the same.
This requires heartfelt and intentional change and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s work in us. The Bible tells us all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Being born with a sin nature, we must choose to take off the old self and put on the new self (Ephesians 4:22-24). Much like changing from dirty clothes to clean clothes, we must shed our soiled garments and put on the garments of righteousness. The Bible makes clear that Christians will experience suffering and hardship, persecution and injustice. Our residence in God’s Kingdom does not make us immune to the trials of this earthly life, but we are called to traverse the seasons of life as people who reflect the character of Christ even amidst adversity.
Notably, when we put on new clothes, we don’t just throw them on over whatever we are already wearing. Changing into new clothes means first removing the old, and that’s exactly what Paul instructs.
We are not to mask the old under a new and shiny facade but completely eliminate the old. We must put to death sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed (Colossians 3:5) and rid ourselves of anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language (Colossians 3:8). As God’s chosen people, we must eradicate the unholy, decluttering the things in the wardrobes of our lives that do not honor God. We must “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator (Colossians 3:10).”
When is the last time you took inventory of what you are putting on each day? Are you equipping yourself to graciously encounter each season of life with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience? This is a question I ask myself often as I remember and meditate on this part of Scripture. The truth is that I cannot put on these virtues in my own strength; I need Christ. I need to abide in Him, to prayerfully petition Him to do a good work in me, to change my heart, to change my perspective, to continue to work in me. When I’m facing a season of difficulty, will I complain about my circumstances and resort to my fleshly attitude, or will I put on the attitude Christ perfectly exemplified? The way we respond under pressure, when our circumstances are from ideal, so often reflects our character, and I will be the first to admit that I find that incredibly convicting.
Will you join me in praying that the Lord will daily remind and convict us to clothe ourselves appropriately? That instead of grumbling about the season we are in and blaming our circumstances for our behavior that we’d clothe ourselves in righteousness and seek the grace to handle each season with upright character? That instead of holding grudges we’d forgive as Christ forgave us (Colossians 3:13)? That we would clothes ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience? May we also, as Paul puts it, “over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:14).”
We have been made alive in Christ, so let’s put to death our old ways. Every day, we get to choose how we clothe ourselves. Let’s burn the garments of old and put on the new.