Colossians 3:12-13, “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”
When growing up in Georgia, my precious mama always worked hard to make sure I was dressed appropriately. In winter, she always made sure I had my coat and in summer she would make sure I would not get too hot playing during recess at school. I can remember vividly some mornings my mama saying, “you need to wear something different, it’s too cold (or hot) for those clothes. My wife today does these same things every morning for our children. Sis. Jennifer will look at the kid’s clothes to make sure they are within the parameters for the school and etc. Some mornings, I hear my wife saying the same to our children that my mama said to me. Wow, how things change and stay the same at the same time.
In our study verse, the Apostle Paul refers to spiritual garments the family of God should gladly wear. Notice, Paul did not say to become the elect, and he didn’t address necktie length or outward garment colors. He said “Put on therefore, as the elect of God…” The Apostle is exhorting this precious congregation in Colosee (Colossians 1:2) to live and act like children of God in this world.
Dear child of grace, when you get dressed in the morning, do you check to see if clothing is appropriate for the day? Paul tells us to put on “holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another…” These garments are not cheap, they are only able to be worn by those purchased by the blood of Jesus (elect) and it will cost any who wear these garments a strong effort to overcome the carnal nature and the temptations of the world and the devil. But when/if we do wear these garments, we will glorify our Father in heaven and show to the world how much we love Him Who first loved us (1 John 4:19; Psalms 9:1; Matthew 5:16; Philippians 2:12.) Amen!