Dressed to Impress

Read I Thessalonians 5:8, Ephesians 6:11-18

Tanya stared into her closet deciding what to wear to her job interview. Finally, she chose a gray pinstriped suit. She ironed the matching blouse and put it on. One last glance in the mirror showed her reflection. She was ready!
Dressing appropriately for an occasion is important. It oftentimes dictates your level of emotion for a particular event. I have often prescribed to the notion that when I go to church, I must dress in my best because the Lord is looking. You most likely would not find too many athletes wearing designer suits within the boundaries of the playing field.
Dress is very important if you desire an impression to be made. Yet, sometimes we spend time and money on outward appearances without donning the most important clothing of all. Faith, love, hope, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience are what God gives us to wear. His pattern is always a perfect fit. Department stores do not carry this very special designer brand. You cannot purchase these items out of a catalog. In fact, there is only one place where this designer brand may be found: in Him.
God, the Master Designer, dresses our spirits with these gifts at our baptism, when He clothes us in Christ. The Bible states that we have put on, or clothed ourselves, in Christ. In baptism, we are cleansed from sin and when we are filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking in an unknown language, we are given the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We not only receive new clothing, but we also receive new lives! God makes us His own. Though the price tag for these new clothes was high, we will never receive a bill. Jesus gave His life for us on a cross. Clothed in Him, we are appropriately dressed for any circumstance, assured of forgiveness and eternal life. The nice thing about these clothes is that they never wear out, go out of style or fail to impress. In fact, when people see you go through some of the circumstances that come our way in life, it is the way you are dressed that impresses them the most. Testimony after testimony throughout the years has borne witness that people saw someone go through something horrific clothed in the right attitude, thankful in all things and representing their Master well. How are you dressed today?

“Dress has a moral effect upon the conduct of mankind. Let any gentlemen find himself with dirty boots, old suit, soiled neck cloth and a general negligence of dress, and he will in all probability find a corresponding disposition be negligence of address.”
-John Shute