Closets say a lot about their owners. If someone were to venture into you closet, even if they knew nothing else about you, they could make some general assumptions about you. They might know whether you were old or young; if you were organized or disorganized; what sports team you pull for; what region of the country you lived in; whether you have traditional, contemporary, or eclectic tastes; etc.
But beyond those surface judgments they could go deeper into who you really are as an individual. They could make generalizations about your relative intelligence, your sense of self-worth, and what your values are. What would your closet say about you? Would it say that you are insecure, that you are seeking validation from others that you are worthy, and that you have little self-esteem as a person? Would it say you are worldly, that you are overly concerned about your physical appearance, or that you have little regard for decency? Or would your closet confess something about your spirituality?
As you ponder those questions in your heart, consider this passage about dress taken from 1 Peter 3:3-4:
Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
Now, this passage is written to women but I believe it applies in many ways to men as well. Consider what the godly woman’s (and man’s) wardrobe says…
“My clothes do not define me.” We all want to say this, don’t we? No one wants to think of himself or herself as being superficial. So we tell ourselves that our character is what really matters not our clothes. But our wardrobes tell a different story. The amount of money we invest each year in clothing speaks loud and clear. The plain truth coming out of our closets is that our self-esteem is very much affected by how we look and what we wear.
“I have a beauty that does not change.” The godly woman’s (or man’s) wardrobe may include some clothes that are not all together up to date. You’ll probably find some garments that are not only out of style but are also fading and a little worn. But the reason you find that is because they feel very comfortable being dressed with an inner beauty that does not wear out or grow old or go out of style. They are dressed with an “incorruptible beauty” that shines brighter and brighter as their physical beauty diminishes through the years.
“I am secure in knowing who I am in God’s eyes.” While the wardrobe of the worldly individual confesses how much they desire approval from the world, the wardrobe of the godly individual declares how little they need or even want that. All that matters to them is what God thinks, and God is not concerned at all with how fashionable or stylish or expensive our clothes are. All God cares about is the heart. When God sees the character of Christ living within us he sees something that to Him is “very precious” indeed.
But someone will respond by saying, “The clothes don’t make the man,” and I must say that there is logic behind that. But it’s too easy for us to justify what is a clear case of worldliness with a statement such as that. The Bible warns against the danger of self-deception. We can trick ourselves into thinking that we have a pilgrim mentality—that our focus is heavenly and not earthly—when we’re really possessed by the spirit of this world.
How do we cut through this dangerous web of self-deception? How can we know whether we have “set our minds on things above and not on things on the earth?” We can start by looking in our closet. While it may be true that “the clothes don’t make the man” they often do say a lot about him (or her). So what does your wardrobe say about you?