WHO ARE YOU WEARING?

Karen Rees | @ICFWriters

Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Romans 13:14

Sometimes mannequins have faces, sometimes they don't. It doesn't really matter which it is because, unlike beauty pageant contestants, mannequins aren't there to display themselves. Their purpose is to display their clothing.

The year our Hong Kong Flower Show included mannequins, pictured here, people didn't go to see the mannequins. They went to see the dresses of flowers the mannequins were wearing.

As followers of Christ, we're to live like mannequins, not like beauty pageant contestants. Rather than 'wearing' behaviors that call attention to ourselves, we're to be clothed with Christ. When people look at us they should see Him.

To wear Christ is to wear Love. Not the emotional 'hearts and flowers' kind of love. It's the compassionate, self-sacrificing love that Jesus showed when he died for sinners like you and me. It's the love that does what's best for the other person even when I can't stand the person.

If you're like me, becoming a mannequin for Christ is easier said than done. It takes time and effort to become clothed with Christ - our time and the effort of the Holy Spirit working in us. Why? Because we still have that old sinful nature to deal with.

It would be much easier if we only had to clothe ourselves with Christ on Sundays or when we're with other believers. But that's not how it works.

We're to wear Christ 24-7. Everywhere we go, everything we do, everyone we speak with, whether at work or at home, at the grocery store or at the park, driving on the highway or playing on the beach. And especially when we get on Facebook. Our every word and action should show Christ.

Thankfully wearing Christ 24-7 has a completely different result than wearing some outfit 24-7. With constant wear and our body odors, a garment will eventually turn into a smelly rag. But when we're clothed with Christ, he has the power to renew us and dispel our spiritual body odors of sin. As a result, the longer we're clothed with Christ, the better we look and sweeter we smell to those around us.

Colossians 3:12-14 lists some of the items, including the most important one, we'll be wearing when we're clothed with Christ. I know which I'm still struggling to fully put on. What do you struggle with?

Bio: Karen Rees exchanged life as a farmer's daughter for SE Asian “big city” life when she and her husband began mission work in Hong Kong. They've worked with local Chinese, household servants imported from the Philippines and Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka.
As a result she's eaten chicken's feet, baby octopus cooked in its own ink, barbecued pig's ear and several other delicacies that she didn't ask about.
Karen is the mother of two and grandmother of three, an avid reader, quilter, lover of history and an author of historical fiction set during the English Reformation.
Facebook Author Page: https://www/facebook.com/Author.KarenRees