The Start of Change A few years ago I did something long overdue: I went on a one-year shopping fast. I wish I could say I did it because I wanted to. I would prefer to spin this with me looking spiritual and disciplined. But the truth is I did it because one day God […]
Your pant size won’t always be the same. Your skin won’t always be firm. Your hair won’t always be the color it is. Your height won’t even stay the same as you age! However, one thing will stay with you throughout all of life’s transitions and trials: your heart.
We want to find contentment in Jesus – not in the clothing we wear! I’ve found that saving money on clothing can be fun and fruitful because it allows me to have the funds to bless someone else or help a friend in need. There’s such joy in letting go of the pressure to keep up with trends, and instead just covering ourselves in grace and simple pieces that free us up to serve and live abundantly!
Every day you pick up your paint brush and create through the world around you. You decorate your home with minute attention to detail. You cook your favorite meals (or throw together a pb&j for the kiddos). You take a picture and share an Instagram post. You write papers, create spreadsheets, make a cup of coffee, and dream dreams. Life is art. And it is beautiful!
Each day we wake up to face a plethora of choices. Do I get out of bed when my alarm goes off or do I press snooze? (Repeat the snooze scenario a few more times.) Do I choose to spend time with the Lord or catch up on social media? What should I eat for breakfast? What do I need to get done today? And then we get to the choice that usually gets all of us stuck: What do I wear? (insert hands thrown into the air in total desperation…okay, that might be a little dramatic, but you know what I’m talking about.) We have all gone to our closet and been faced with that awful thought that usually makes us late to work: “I have nothing to wear.” Our morning routine can be halted and thrown off in an instant by hair that just doesn’t seem to curl the right way, clothing that looks out-dated and a body we wish looked different than the mirror tells us. The decision of what we wear paralyzes us, monopolizes our feelings, and often affects the way we feel the rest of the day.
When we confuse the source of our identity with who God says we are and what the scale says we weigh, everything else becomes skewed. We focus less on Jesus and more on ourselves. We obsess and worry over every calorie instead of spending every moment pursuing the kingdom of God. What if we dress for today and walk in the confidence of who God made us to be, right now?
If you were to travel around the world, one thing would be the exact same among every tribe, nation, and country: clothing. While styles of clothing vary from culture to culture where beliefs, climate, and custom influence style of dress, every human being wears some form of covering. We learned on Monday that clothing originated in the Garden after Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They covered themselves in fig leaves, trying to mask their shame and brokenness, but God came, and in His mercy, killed an innocent animal to make for them better, more durable garments. Clothing is a picture of His amazing grace. Adam and Eve put their design skills to use when they sewed together fig leaves for covering, but God, the ultimate Designer created garments that were more useful and lasting. God is able to take our brokenness and make it beautiful because of His grace.
Contentment and your closet. Those are two words that don’t normally go together. When we look at our wardrobe, the last thing on our minds is that we have enough. Usually, what happens each day is this: we go to our closets, try on several items, and then get walk away frustrated because we have “nothing to wear.” What we have is never enough, and what we don’t have we believe will be enough. It is an endless cycle that we can fall into if we don’t guard our hearts and look at what we have through a gospel lens.
We are all worshippers. The question is never, am I worshipping? Instead, we should daily ask ourselves, what/who am I worshipping? The definition of worship is “the act of worshipping God or a god.” We either worship the one True God who is worthy of our affection, or we worship little gods that deceive us into thinking they are greater than they are. In Psalm 115:4-8, David describes what this kind of worship looks like, “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.”
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