Putting things in their proper place
One of the main reasons I am more able to fully enjoy and have fun with clothes and style is because God has taught me and given me the grace to put Him first (It’s still something the Lord is teaching me every day). When things in our daily lives are set in their proper place with God as our priority, we are freed to continually grow in our enjoyment of life and the blessings God has given us. When our lives center around worshipping creation rather than the Creator, our lives are distorted and depressing. Though at the moment you can’t seem to pinpoint the source of the nagging feeling, whether that be oppression, depression or any other uncomfortable emotion, when given the opportunity (or cornered into giving God the opportunity) God will begin to tear down these false idols in our lives. These idols constantly try to tempt us into giving them God’s rightful throne in our lives, essentially robbing us of our joy.
God had to do this with me. He had to remove the idol of fashion, this lesser god that offered false confidence, pride, comfort, identity, worth and security to me. Several times the Lord spoke to me about this affair I was having with fashion. Once after a week of fasting fashion, which consisted of unattractive gym shorts, T-shirts and no makeup, the Lord spoke these simple words to me, “you are beautiful.” I felt stunned and a bit confused by His words. Beautiful was the last word I would use to describe my appearance at that moment. Plain and ordinary would be more fitting, at least in my human perspective. But He did in fact say that I am beautiful. Who am I to argue with God? The words God spoke made me feel more beautiful than I ever felt wearing my velvet Anthropologie skirt, more confident than I ever felt with my Levi’s leather jacket.
When God has His rightful place in our hearts, when He is first and given the right to reign over every aspect of our lives, everything else in our lives will begin to take its rightful place. It is then and only then that we’re able to not only fully enjoy who God is but also enjoy everything else He has blessed us with rightly. Trendy clothes no longer are something we must have on in order to feel confident, worthy and beautiful. For it is not clothes that make us worthy or help answer our questions regarding who we are. It is only God who has the words of light and life. It is God who speaks eternal truth, who never changes, who has all authority in Heaven and on Earth who gives us worth and reveals to us our true identity day by day. It is God who holds our hands as a good father.
Gucci, Prada, Marc Jacobs and Yves Saint Laurent won’t tell you anything about what your purpose is in life or help you out, they just want you to give them your money and offer you temporary highs.
This is the perspective and history from which I blog on clothing and style. Though I post about trends and items of clothing I like, ultimately, this is just my hobby and not the meaning of my life. I hope to encourage other fellow Christians who wrestle through similar matters and to share pretty things.
Let me know your thoughts, questions and struggles regarding fashion : )..what do you think? I want to know.
