Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others, Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. – Colossians 3:12-15 NLT

I believe it would be safe to say that most people are concerned with their appearance and what to wear. Perhaps we want to identify with a certain style, image, fashion, or group. We may want to make a statement about who we are. Or we may want to impress someone else. Where we are going also plays a role in what we wear. Business meeting, sporting, beach, gym, or church makes a difference. But even each of those destinations leave us with a choice of what to wear. Many people put a great deal of thought, effort, and money into what they are going to wear. We choose what we wear based on the message we want to send others and with what or whom we identify. One thing is usually true: what we wear reflects who we are.

In Colossians we see that God’s Word answers the question about what we should wear. Our first choice of clothing must give the message of our identification with God. This clothing includes tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love, peace, and thankfulness. If we first clothe ourselves in these, our other choices of what to wear will be easy.