Ephesians 6:11, New King James Version

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;" (Colossians 3:12, NKJV)

Ask yourself, "Am I spending more attention on how I look physically than spiritually?”

In order to answer that question for yourself, take a moment and think about the various steps you go through to get yourself ready for the day. Clearly we are creatures of habit, which becomes very apparent when we consider the patterns we follow each day to get ready. After rolling out of bed I go into a grooming routine. My mind goes into autopilot—lay out clothes, shave, shower, deodorant, comb hair, brush teeth, dress, etc. Shortly, I am dressed and heading towards the kitchen for my next set of semi-brainless tasks. 

Most Christians would never consider not attending to their physical attire, and yet some of us give little or no attention to getting spiritually ready for the day ahead. It is almost as if they walk out of the house spiritually naked. 

So, what are we to dress ourselves with?

Proper attire for Christians is armor—not fancy clothes. Rather than dressing for a stroll around the palace, we should be dressed for battle. The Christian life is a war. The sooner we learn that, the sooner we can experience the victory God has planned for us. In Ephesians 6 the apostle Paul tells us that if we are to be victorious, we must put on the spiritual armor God provides. We are to do this daily. Not one particular piece is most important. Each piece is essential, so we can’t say that any one of them is all a believer needs. The sword, the Word of God, is obviously a priority, because it is the only offensive weapon Paul lists. On the defensive side, however, the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14) stands out as especially crucial. If you are not following after righteousness, you won’t have in proper place the shield of faith, the shoes of peace, the helmet of salvation, or the sword of the Spirit. 

What else should we be clothing ourselves with daily? As God’s holy people, we are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12). I picture this as pulling on my pants of patience, my shirt of compassion, and my hat of humility. In other words, it is our responsibility to dress ourselves with this heavenly clothing each day. God tells us that, although I have this new spiritual man of “Christ in me,” I must “put on” this new man daily.

Say out loud as you prepare for the day, “Praise God! Today is a new day! God’s mercy towards me is renewed and I am putting on my fresh garments of grace. Today I am putting on the new man; I am clothing myself with the Lord Jesus Christ.” That means that if I have “dressed” properly then when I leave my home, the world should see Jesus in me wherever I go.

Until the day that Jesus comes, let’s make sure that every day we take time to get dressed spiritually!