Put On Something New!

October 8, 2026

Put On Something New!

I like my “worn just enough” blue jeans, my soft cotton shirt, and broke-in pair of tennis shoes. If the day warms up enough, I change out my blue jeans for cotton blend cargo shorts. So when someone suggests a different brand of jeans or a different style of shirt or a different type of shoes, I hesitate.

Putting on something new when everything seems to be working fine is not easy. Maybe I have grown comfortable with the clothes I wear or the way I am living my life or the present state of my relationships.

And yet, I know my jeans wear out and my life may not always please Jesus and my relationships can be a bit stressed or strained. It may be time to put on something new.

Sometimes I need to put on something new because I have become too comfortable. Sometimes I need to put on something new because I have ignored something important too long. Sometimes I need to put on something new because I have been hurt too deeply.

In Colossians 3:12 the Apostle Paul writes; “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”

Paul is writing to Christ-followers who need to put on something new. There are times when even the most devout Christian, the most engaged believer, and the most sincere Christ-follower needs to put on something new.

This was the case for the Christians in the first century church in Colossae. Paul refers to the Christ-followers in that church as “…God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved…” His audience is the already convinced, the already committed, the already saved Christians in Colossae.

It is clear that even these Christ-followers have a need to grow and mature and produce more fruit of the Holy Spirit. Paul says the areas in which they need to grow include “…compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”  

He uses the metaphor of putting on a new set of clothes. It may be time for you to make some changes, some alterations, some adjustments.

I invite you to take some time today to ask Jesus how you are doing in the areas of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness/gentleness, and patience. Maybe a simple rating scale of 1 to 10 might be helpful in your assessment.

You will probably find you are doing pretty well in most of these areas. However, there may be one in which you are falling short in some way. Maybe it is how you are treating someone at work or on the team or the neighbor living next door. Maybe it is how you spoke to someone at school or at home or at the meeting.

Ask yourself how Jesus would respond if He were in your situation.

If you are coming up short in any one of the areas Paul lists in Colossians 3:12, it is time to put on something new. It is time for a new approach, a new attitude, or a new action.

However, before you can put on something new you will need to take off the thing that is old; i.e., the thing that no longer works, the thing that no longer honors God, the thing that keeps hurting another person or you.

Taking off something that is comfortable and predictable and familiar is not easy, especially in our relationships with other people, in our relationship with Jesus, or in our relationship with our self. The taking off will often require asking or offering forgiveness and giving or receiving mercy.

If I have not measured up in the area of compassion, there will be a need for forgiveness.

If I have not measured up in the area of kindness, there will be a need for forgiveness.

If I have not measured up in the area of humility, there will be a need for forgiveness.

If I have not measured up in the area of meekness/gentleness, there will be a need for forgiveness.

If I have not measured up in the area of patience, there will be a need for forgiveness.

Take some time today to ask Jesus to show you where you are falling a bit short in one of these areas. Then, ask for forgiveness from the person who has been hurt and from Jesus. Finally, dare to put on something new the Holy Spirit can use to help you live a life of holiness that honors the Lord.

When you surrender to the Holy Spirit and put on something new, your heart will begin to fill with delight in the goodness and generosity and grace of the Lord.

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug