Wednesday, September 19, 2012

When Your Clothes Don't Fit by Martin Wiles

"IT DOESN’T FIT."

If I’ve heard it once I have a thousand times.

My wife says she’s built funny-at least from the waist down. Actually it’s not her build; it’s her legs. They’re vertically challenged, making it difficult for her to find pants the correct length. Most pants she models could host her legs twice. 

As a good husband, I tell her she’s built just right. She likes my opinion, but it doesn’t cut down on her time in the dressing room or mine on the bench. So I sit and wait until she finds just the right pair of pants or until she gives up in disgust and we go home. 

I don’t have as much trouble finding properly fitting clothes, but occasionally my normal size doesn’t fit--usually because of the manufacturer or quality of cloth. And periodically I try on garments I know deep down inside won’t fit (when I’m dieting and hope I’ve decreased a size). Normally I’m disappointed. 

But properly fitting attire should be the least of my worries. More important is what I try to wear spiritually. 

Paul says: The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12) 

A modern translation says it more graphically: "Shed them like dirty clothes"—like Peeling off sweat soaked clothes after picking watermelons or after five days of bathless backpacking. 

As a follower of Christ, some things just don’t fit or wear properly because I’m a new creation in him. Paul lists a few: dishonesty, wild parties, drunkenness, sexual impurity, immoral living, fighting and jealousy. Every now and then I try parading around in a few of these garments and get disappointed. It’s only natural. They never fit like I imagine, and they shouldn’t. 

The cure for inappropriate clothing is simple: put on the right size and style instead of attempting to wear something appealing that isn’t either...like honesty, decency, right thinking—the Jesus’ qualities of living. 

Do your clothes reflect who you are? 

Read about Martin and his devotional books and devotional sites on our Lead Writers' Page.

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